Over 15 years ago I tried to learn blender when I was just 11/12 years to learn Blender to be able to add assets into my favorite game: Oblivion. I never got far with the attempt, but ten years later, I tried another attempt and learnt much more than I had ever before.
I ended making a Teddy bear, a glass cup with a piece of cloth that had some physics properties, some pool balls, soccer balls and finally nice and metallic ring.
Over the past 5 years I have lost the knowledge to make these objects, so I have decided to learn Blender all over again. I started working with primitives, which are simple mesh objects such as squares, cones etc… to get the hang of it. Here is an attempt at making a well and a rocket.
Ultimately, I am happy with the simple models which were a great way to refresh myself on the user interface of Blender. I hope to try and bring these models in to Unreal Engine at one point to simply attempt at importing assets into an actual game engine. Then move on to import some better, more beautiful models. I have a few models that I am striving to build, but I will need to first sharpen up my skills.
(PS to the one reader. I need to add to the website the functionality for the gallery. Something to do over the holidays.)
Earlier today Valve announced the Steam Deck, a handheld PC built with custom hardware with the support of AMD. The device itself is incredibly interesting, sporting a quad core Zen 2 CPU with the latest RDNA 2 APU available. The device sports a 7-inch touch screen, with an incredible number of buttons that can be customized to the users liking and even has their touch pad technology like on the Steam Controller. There will be three version at launch, all with the same hardware, but with the $399 USD version having 64 GB of storage, the $529 USD version including 256 GB and finally a 512 GB version for $649 USD.
Looking at the design of the Steam Deck, it appears incredibly positive, even though Valve previous forays in hardware has not gone well. The Steam Deck has already been compared to the Switch and posts all over the internet are already providing guides to readers on whether they should be interested in the Steam Deck or the Nintendo Switch. I am writing this as I do not think the Steam Deck is being built to compete against the Nintendo Switch, nor do I think it is meant as a play by Valve to compete against the other handheld gaming PC’s such as the GDP Win3, or the Aya Neo. I believe the Steam Deck has been built to help promote and grow Steam OS.
Now what I said may sound crazy, but please hear me out. Valve makes a lot of money. Like a ton. But it primarily makes that money from the sale of games and software on its store front. The issue is that store front relies primarily on Windows where most PC game sales occur. For this reason, Valve has been trying to build their own platform for many years. They started by trying to get manufacturers to build what they named Steam Machine’s with Steam OS included with the device. When that never even saw the light of day, they tried many other methods of trying to own the platform for their store front with little success. In the background though, they continued to work on and improve their Linux game compatibility, all for a moment like this.
Let’s step back for a moment. With the launch of the Switch in 2016, handheld gaming became a phenomenon. It was always huge, but the switch brought power and portability to the market when handheld devices like the 3ds were arguably, only portable. With that success, many people/companies decided that they would try and bring handheld PC gaming to the market. Hence the successful crowdfunding of the Win3 from GPD and the Aya Neo that I brought up earlier. The devices more than successful crowdfunding campaigns were a clear signal to Steam, and to the market at large that there was pent up demand for devices in the handheld gaming category.
When reviewers tried the Win3 the device had mild hardware issues, but the main pain point was Windows. Windows 10 is simply not a great experience on devices of this form factor. The UI in Windows 10 is not great for touchscreens and the just generally too small to enjoy properly.
Now we come back to the present and the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck does appear to superior to the other handheld gaming devices that have been released thus far in the hardware category, but it is the software that, I believe, Valve sees the greatest opportunity for success. For one, hardware is incredibly difficult to make profitable. Consoles from Sony and Xbox are well known to sell at a loss, so that the manufacturers can then profit from game sales, accessories, subscription, etc. With that, and the fact that Steam is Valve’s main source of revenue, they will do everything they can to both grow and protect, Steam, their main revenue source. How do you both grow, and protect Steam, you control the platform (OS) on a growing hardware type and allow other manufacturers to use said platform for their hardware.
In the interview linked below, they actually share that Steam OS will be available to be used by other manufacturers and that they welcome other manufacturers to build these types of devices if the demand is there. Steam OS has been available for free since its release, but they (Valve) want it to come installed on as much hardware as possible as preinstalled software allows for higher retention of users. Simply look at Google, Apple, and Microsoft for the success of preinstalled software.
Steam OS is what Valve is trying to sell with the release of the Steam Deck. They want Steam OS to be the next Windows for handheld gaming devices as that will both grow and protect Steam for the foreseeable future. They are betting that by releasing Steam Deck, they can help push the category into the mainstream and propel Steam OS onto as many devices as possible. Valve has been trying to gain control of its destiny for as long as Steam has existed. They know they rely on Microsoft’s continued semi-open garden, but they do not want to always have to look over their shoulder to see if the monster is coming for them. With Steam OS rebuilt for handheld devices, and the growth of the hardware category, they are looking to make the experience better for users, while profiting from a growing hardware category that they hope to control. Only time will tell whether they win control over their own destiny or will need to try looking for the next opportunity to open itself up.
This will be my first post with some actual hands-on time with the Spectrum, but it most definitely will not be the last! I plan to answer as many of the community’s questions as I can about the Spectrum as well as the topic I listed above!
Now on to what you are here for! I received the Spectrum Wednesday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised with the packaging! It was incredibly sturdy and made entirely of recyclable materials which is amazing. It did not have the print, but for launch they have the print, and it will make it look even better! For those who love a good unboxing, I do not believe they will be disappointed.
I was so captivated by the Spectrum itself that I did not take any photos of the box, so let me know if that would be interesting and I can go ahead and take some images to show you how it is made.
With that being said, the Spectrum is the main attraction, and it is a beautiful monitor. As someone who prefers something more neutral and sleeker, the Spectrum ticks all those boxes and more. The base is incredibly strong, made entirely of metal, while the monitor is just stunning with its entirely black frame. 👋
The Spectrum has a joystick and a power button. The joystick has four directions which are up, down, left, and right. You can also press down on the joystick. It is a very tactile joystick with a satisfying click. The power button though is a little mushy compared to the joystick, but not terrible.
Installing the Spectrum into my current office setup was easy. I have a dual monitor stand which supports VESA 100 which simply required me to remove the four screws preinstalled on the Spectrum and to attach the VESA bracket with the screws that came with my bracket. The screws that came with the Spectrum were too short to be used with my bracket, but your mileage may vary.
My previous office setup included two 1080p, 60Hz monitors. A 23-inch Acer, and a 27-inch Acer. Unfortunately, the 23-inch monitor did not have a VESA mount so for the time being I have been propping it up on some books to keep it level with the other monitor. The Spectrum I received replaced the 23-inch Acer monitor, and the books it sat upon, and I currently have another Spectrum on order which will be replacing the 27-inch Acer monitor.
For those doing a similar upgrade as I am doing. My impressions thus far are that 4K, 144Hz makes a DRAMATIC difference for work and for play. In Windows 10 I am noticing some subtle animations that I had no idea existed in the OS. Text and colors are much precise and clear compared to my previous 1080p monitor and gaming is simply a joy, especially with HDR enabled.
Though the experience with the hardware has been quite positive, the firmware specifically still needs refinement. When I first received the Spectrum, the monitor was unable to wake from sleep. That was fixed with version 090 which was available at the time, but I had not yet updated. Updating the Spectrum Firmware is thankfully easy. It simply requires downloading an updater on your computer and connecting the computer to the monitor via USB type C or B.
Currently, I am running firmware version 092 which has improved HDR, among other things. It still has some bugs. While playing Doom Eternal and Horizon Zero Dawn I ran into an issue where the monitor would lose all color and become black and white during cinematics or when a notification popped up from Microsoft Teams. I could easily fix the problem by turning off the monitor and turning it back on and it happened infrequently enough that it did not stop me from playing far more than I should have as I just lost track of time 😊
Eve and the firmware team are fixing bugs as we find them though and have been extremely transparent during the entire process. So far, I am confident that Eve will have the firmware perfected for the launch at the end of June and am excited to receive my second Spectrum!
Sorry for such a long post. If you read this far, thank you! Stay tuned for more content, sooner rather than later. I plan to share some PC game play and share my thoughts on gaming with Spectrum and the Xbox Series X next!
As I was exploring Twitter today, I came upon what I believe to be the easiest way to add a dark theme to a website using only CSS.
When I had previously explored how to add a dark theme to a website, I had only ever found ways of doing so with JavaScript. I thought there must be a better way, but until today I just hadn’t found one. When I saw this easy solution, I decided I needed to try this out for myself and lo and behold it worked wonderfully! I went ahead and followed @rootgp ‘s tutorial which can be found on his website and figured out the best way of implementing the necessary code on to my website which I have built with Frontity.
Here is the code that I used to add dark mode to my website. Again this is all using CSS and is super simple.
As of today, you should be able to see the website match the users browser theme as long as the browser supports it. Let me know if there are any issues or if you have any suggestions or feedback. Message me on any platform where you can find me.
