Rory's Journal

For those of you out there following my 3D engine development this blog is for you. I have finally gotten pixel shading to work better now. Pixel shaders are the script that runs on your video card to make special effects happen. The most common uses for these are bumps and normal mapping. Basically, it can change colors or make smooth things look more realisitic with surface distortions. It's really fun technology to play with, but it is a bitch to get to work. My thinking was that I had to get this to work because all the new games are using it. Take a look at "Elder Scrolls: Oblivion" coming out for PC and Xbox 360 in March. Almost every model or surface in that game is pixel shaded. It's a technology that more games are going to be using heavily. I have included a screen shot of my pixel shader test lab program. It uses my 3D engine to run everything.

December 7th, 2005. Today was the day that I proposed to Sonya. I started by getting her three roses and having them ready in a vase for when she got home from work. Then we went to dinner for steaks. It was good to have a nice meal and have something in my stomach to calm my nerves. When we got home, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She accepted. It was really great! It felt good to finally do what I have wanted to do for some time now. I guess I just never seriously thought about it until recently. I had been planning this for months now, but only one other person knew until these last few weeks. Then the secret almost got out. I had to have people killed, but I think it was worth it to keep it "under our hats" as the government says sometimes. No, seriously it was a great day. She seems to be in some kind of excited planning stage of some sort. I wonder what she could possibly be planning for...