Ode to ArtRage2 and the Balance Game.
Hi. Sorry I missed last week. We were gone Friday and Saturday and then had family Saturday and Sunday. Monday I was working my tail off to catch up and then the week just flew by.
Let me start off by mentioning the coolest software I currently know of: Artrage2. What is it? It is a simulation of the painting experience.* A really good simulation but with the advantages that you don't have to buy paints or canvas and that there is unlimitted undo so you can't really be stuck on a mistake. The user interface is amazing. Wonderfully intuitive, good looking, and powerful. The paint actually mixes on the cavas as you paint unless you have it dry first. The brush can have different pressures. Default is a lot of pressure. In that case you slather on the paint in Van Gogh fashion and the texture is amazing. I've tried the program on a regular computer and on a tablet. It's about 30% cooler on a tablet. But it is still the neatest application I know about on an ordinary computer with a mouse. I have the free-ware version but plan to upgrade pretty soon to the 20 dollar version. And not only for the extra features. Also just to reward beautiful work that has benefited the world (and me personally) by throwing cash at it.
The whole thing makes programming seem like art more than craft. Maybe almost like some organic wholesome magic. They brought something to life.
*(It also simulates pencil, pastels, etc. but I'm focusing on the oil painting capability.)
On to the most interesting thing I am trying right now. I call it the balance game and the idea is to make life into a game. I have my life divided into categories of physical and spiritual health, family, work, church. Each category is divided up into specific things that I can do for points. Points in each category are summed and then the totals for the categories are multiplied to compute the overall score. That means if I flunk a category I flunk the game. All the math is done by a spreadsheet and I can see how I'm doing. So far it's been fun enough and a great reminder on a fair number of important things.
Anyway, goodnight.
Let me start off by mentioning the coolest software I currently know of: Artrage2. What is it? It is a simulation of the painting experience.* A really good simulation but with the advantages that you don't have to buy paints or canvas and that there is unlimitted undo so you can't really be stuck on a mistake. The user interface is amazing. Wonderfully intuitive, good looking, and powerful. The paint actually mixes on the cavas as you paint unless you have it dry first. The brush can have different pressures. Default is a lot of pressure. In that case you slather on the paint in Van Gogh fashion and the texture is amazing. I've tried the program on a regular computer and on a tablet. It's about 30% cooler on a tablet. But it is still the neatest application I know about on an ordinary computer with a mouse. I have the free-ware version but plan to upgrade pretty soon to the 20 dollar version. And not only for the extra features. Also just to reward beautiful work that has benefited the world (and me personally) by throwing cash at it.
The whole thing makes programming seem like art more than craft. Maybe almost like some organic wholesome magic. They brought something to life.
*(It also simulates pencil, pastels, etc. but I'm focusing on the oil painting capability.)
On to the most interesting thing I am trying right now. I call it the balance game and the idea is to make life into a game. I have my life divided into categories of physical and spiritual health, family, work, church. Each category is divided up into specific things that I can do for points. Points in each category are summed and then the totals for the categories are multiplied to compute the overall score. That means if I flunk a category I flunk the game. All the math is done by a spreadsheet and I can see how I'm doing. So far it's been fun enough and a great reminder on a fair number of important things.
Anyway, goodnight.
posted by Douglas H. at 8:56 PM
2 Comments:
Doug,
ArtRage is awesome! Thanks for the link :)
I just downloaded it and have spent the last hour playing with it.
Rick
Alright! I'm glad you've liked it. The kids have been playing with it all week. Outcompetes even the games on PBSkids.org.
Doug
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