Update (to the Blog, to the Hardware, on the Project and Kinda Sorta to the Software)

This is also what's known as the Obligatory Computer Post. Okay, so this isn't actually a obligatory for this blog, as I've posted this kind of thing before. More than once. Like, really, is this a pattern? In any case, though, one more probably won't hurt.

First of all: I've gotten a major hardware overhaul! As part of a joint birthday present, the redoubtable Bill (yup--the same Mr. Bill who built my previous computer) has given me another upgrade, with a much faster CPU, vastly increased storage space and several other bells and whistles! This is excellent news, and given that this post is also called the Obligatory Computer Post, you may be wondering why it's all good news instead of being about something breaking. 

Well.

From what Bill and I could tell, the motherboard stopped sending or receiving any information some time in, and since all the computer's other parts plug into the motherboard, that meant the computer could power on and wasn't too sure what else to do from there. (A later report confirmed that, while the computer had been built perfectly, the motherboard's chipset dealing with input and output had gone bad on its own.) After a few troubleshooting attempts, the board went in for repairs; it shipped back after about a month... only for Bill to find that the CPU isn't working either. 

We're not sure what happened, but I'll be keeping an eye on the temperature when it gets back in case that's what was going on. It looks like the system will be back in working order by next week, but since I'm without my main, graphics-heavy computer for now, ABYDOS II work should be on hold for a while... with the emphasis on "should." 

Fortunately, I originally made the project with probably way too much in mind, so I'm still able to work on the soundtrack from my laptop! I've also worked out a roadmap for the project, which gives me about a month to wrap it up once the computer gets back. I'm super excited if this can be pulled off, but I think I have it scheduled right!

...Oh, yeah, I also mentioned a software update. While I used Blender 2.79 throughout Incursion's CGI (which probably makes it one of the last large-scale projects to use the old Internal Renderer), I've recently started experimenting with Blender 2.8 on a secondary computer! As tricky as it was to get used to the new interface, I'm getting more of the hang of it now, and much of the workflow feels faster than ever already! It'll be really interesting to see where this goes, especially with the already-released 2.9 update; I'm looking forward to future projects!