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Michael Schenck

@mike.pixelatedramblings.com

590 followers 460 following 150 posts

XR Developer | Unity and C# | Meta Quest Making Zotbox a VR sandbox inspired by Minecraft I like Fantasy, SciFi, Nature, Space, Art, Maps, Books, and RPGs https://pixelatedramblings.com

pixelatedramblings.com

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Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · Aug 14

Here are some basic water effects that I ported over from the original Lost Loot. Surface splashes and bubbles appear when the player or items move. There are also particles drifting in the water which are a little hard to see but look nice in VR. #vr #metaquest #unity3d #indiegame

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

Cannonball Adderall @leupp.bsky.social · 20h

Has anyone made a gif of him thrusting his hips at the ICE goons yet?

The Portland Protest Frog standing up to a group of weak fascist jackboots

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 21h

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 3d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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Aurumek (Simon Hintermann) @aurumek.bsky.social · 5d

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Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 5d

Here's the waste, fraud, and abuse!

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 5d

“Fuck them kids.”

That’s literally what an ICE agent said when ICE, the FBI et al. raided an apartment in Chicago, including with a Blackhawk helicopter, separated children from their parents, and zip-tied them to each other.

abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...

bangs.

"They was terrified. The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other," Watson said. "That's all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where's the human? One of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said, 'f*** them kids.'"

Watson said trucks and military-style vans were used to separate parents from their children. Other neighbors said agents destroyed property to get in the building.

"They had a big, 15-inch chainsaw with round blade on it, cutting this fence down," said witness Darrell Ballard. "We're under siege. We're being invaded by our own military."

Reposted by Michael Schenck

Tooley1998 @tooley1998.bsky.social · 7d

The Creative Mode Update for Lay of the Land is here & available now on Patreon/Kofi. It brings brings Creative Mode, New World Options, New Animals and more.

youtu.be/o-1cR8DpcHY

#gamedev #indiedev #voxelgame #voxelart #voxel #procedural #UnrealEngine

I’ve Added Creative Mode to my Voxel Game

YouTube video by Tooley1998

youtu.be

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 8d

Government shutdown, farmers needing to be bailed out, troops in the streets, country bitterly divided, revolving door of appointees, Putin getting coddled, constant chaos … must be another Trump term.

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Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 10d

Michael Abrash mentioned Hackers at his talk at OC2 now 10 years ago. This was a time when I felt that same kind of excitement about tech and the future. Everyone was building and sharing. Check out the end to see what I wrote and the picture of my friend's DK1 signed by both Palmer and Carmack!

Unite 2015 + Oculus Connect 2 - Pixelated Ramblings

I was very fortunate to be able to attend both Unite 15 and Oculus Connect 2. Unite was is Boston, and since I live there, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of that. Unfortunately the ...

pixelatedramblings.com

Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 10d

A few screenshots of my own new block textures that I described in the previous post. My programmer are style at work! I am still following a color palette similar to vanilla Minecraft though because that is classic. 🎨😎
#vr #metaquest #unity3d #indiegame #adventuregames

Screenshot of my own block textures that are 32 pixel. So far Dirt, Grass, Stone, Sand!

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

voidscapes.bsky.social @voidscapes.bsky.social · 11d

Does one need a party of fellow adventurers? Or is he good enough all alone?
#characterart #gameart #characterdesign #digitalart #indiedev #gamedev #comicart #indiecomics

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Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 12d

It is so satisfying squashing a super elusive bug that has been around for a while. The little monster was hiding in my buffering code for chunk rendering in the background. This is to get it off the main thread for speed and smoothness. Spent days off and on tracking that little beastie! 🐛☠️😎

Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 13d

I wish the culture and ideals embodied in it were as well preserved! That idealism has sadly faded away. The nerdy kids these days need to feel the same magic and possibilities.

Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 13d

This approach looks really nice in VR. I try to maintain the 16 pixel texture (32 pixel per meter) look while taking advantage of twice the resolution. In Blockbench I block out the color using a 16x16 texture then scale it up and add additional detail while keeping some of the 16x16 structure.

Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 13d

So finally I am working on my own set of block textures and like programmer art there is also such a thing as programmer art style! Yes I am attempting to develop my own art style or aesthetic. Here is an example of the side of the grass block.
#vr #metaquest #unity3d #indiegame #adventuregames

A grass block side texture that is trying to keep the 16 bit 32 pixel per meter look while taking advantage of a 32 bit texture at 64 pixels per meter

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Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 13d

@stevenlevy.bsky.social This was a huge inspiration to me during high school as a nerdy computer kid in the 80s. Thank you for writing it!

Picture of the book Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 16d

When @wired asked me to look at Silicon Valley in the age of Trump, I saw the crash of the idealism that originally drew founders--and me--to the tech revolution. Selling out the dream will not serve those moguls (or us) well. www.wired.com/story/silico...

I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong

Tech got what it wanted by electing Trump. A year later, it looks more like a suicide pact.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 14d

Jimmy Kimmel's Monologue now has 14.3 MILLION VIEWS on YouTube.

It would be a shame for you to share it

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1tj...

Jimmy Kimmel is Back!

YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live

www.youtube.com

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Aurumek (Simon Hintermann) @aurumek.bsky.social · 19d

Tiny Bookshop 📚

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Claytonian @claytonian.bsky.social · 21d

tried to remove the creases a bit. Have you spotted Gollum yet?

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 19d

EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF
FASCISM
POWERFUL AND CONTINUING
NATIONALISM
DISDAIN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
IDENTIFICATION OF ENEMIES
AS A UNIFYING CAUSE
SUPREMACY OF THE MILITARY
RAMPANT SEXISM
CONTROLLED MASS MEDIA
OBSESSION WITH NATIONAL SECURITY
RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT
INTERTWINED
CORPORATE POWER PROTECTED
LABOR POWER SUPPRESSED
DISDAIN FOR INTELLECTUALS & THE ARTS
OBSESSION WITH CRIME & PUNISHMENT RAMPANT CRONYISM & CORRUPTION
FRAUDULENT ELECTIONS
Laurence W. Bit wrote about the common signs of fascism in April, 2003, afer researching seven fascist regimes.

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Reposted by Michael Schenck

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 20d

The government of the United States is pleased to announce that henceforth broadcast networks will have wholesome and patriotic programming that will not disparage Leader Trump.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 20d

Trump thinks his rule is absolute.

But in America, we don’t have kings and we won’t back down to chaos, cruelty, and corruption.

We’re taking to the streets again on October 18 to say NO KINGS. Make a plan to do your part to turn this into the largest show of defiance against Trump’s regime yet. 👇

No Kings

As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

www.nokings.org

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Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 21d

I am trying to develop a unique art style here that works well for VR. Of course the overall look is inspired by games like Minecraft, the defunct Hytale, and other blocky games like Vintage Story and Everwind. If anyone ever wants to give feedback on this I am all ears!

Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 21d

Then it varies up and down. For larger objects the pixels become larger so it doesn't start looking high resolution and smaller objects the pixels are smaller to allow for some detail. For example the palm trunks and rocks have a smaller texture while the butterflies have a larger texture.

Michael Schenck @mike.pixelatedramblings.com · 21d

While working on grass I boosted the block textures from 16 to 32 pixels. I experimented with some block textures at 32 pixels and it didn't look good. The sweet spot for textures to have a nice retro pixel art look is about 32 pixels per meter. This is what I have in the videos you see.