New Website Host - March 15, 2023
First off, I want to thank Haystakk (co-founder of the former Swat 3 website "Toc Code 4") for generously hosting this website for over a decade free of charge. The only cost I had was the domain name registration. Even though he has moved on from PC gaming he still wanted to help what is left of the Swat 3 community.
Now a brief explanation why the website has been down for a week:
Since I have some free time I decided to tackle the problem of updating the website software. Joomla version 3 is set to no longer have security updates after August so I needed to deal with it sooner rather than later. I also had to choose and modify a new template for the site because Joomla 4 wasn't compatible with the old template. A time consuming task.
I discovered when I tried to upgrade to Joomla version 4 there were some problems with the database that required me having access to phpMyadmin. I didn't wanted to bother Haystakk with all the fixes so it was easier for everyone if I just paid for a host account on my own.
I am happy to say we are now fully updated and have a new template that I am slowly improving. Please report any issues with the website that you spot in the forums.
Write comment (0 Comments)Another year - January 10, 2023
What, another year has passed? Impossible! The next version of the Last Resort mod still isn't done yet? I can't believe it either!
Happy new year everyone! I worked a little on the mod over the Christmas holiday but didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Specifically I was concentrating on making new textures for Mission B (Getts house). Not all textures are good enough to use AI software to upgrade and need to be rebuilt from scratch. This process is very time consuming because frequently I also need to tweak the mission's .SCN file with Furrycat's brilliant SCN editor.
As previously mentioned in older blog entries I am currently really busy working full time on a Canadian television show. This season we shoot for 10 months of the year (very grueling run) but by mid-February we will finally be wrapped. After a week of recovery I hope to get back to working on the mod.
Random thoughts:
It looks like the NeuWon network is dead for good. The website hasn't been up in a while and the creator of NeuWon doesn't seem to respond to emails. Such a shame since it would have been really nice to have a way to play Swat 3 online like the old days.
I got a notification from the company that I buy the domain name for this website that all .info website domains will have a price increase of over 15% next year. Don't be surprised if I move this website to new domain in the future to save money. Luckily I have already renewed for a year before the price increases.
At some point this year I also must build a new template for the website. I have avoided upgrading the CMS that the website runs on but eventually they will stop releasing security patches for this existing version.
Write comment (5 Comments)Domain Renewed - November 13, 2022
Still working 12 hour days on a Canadian TV show so don't have much free time for the mod right now. Don't worry though, today I renewed the domain name for this website for another year. I am still planning on working on it more in December and from February on (when the season stops shooting).
Write comment (0 Comments)What the heck is going on - June 11, 2022
Yup, I disappeared for a long time and you haven't seen progress updates in a while.
My deepest apologies that I haven't released a new version of the mod. I should have taken advantage of all my time off from work during the winter but unfortunately now I am back full time at IRL work.
The good news is that I see the NeuWon network is back online. For the longest time it was down and I was starting to get discouraged that we would never see it back up. However the Swat 3 server is non-functioning until the owner of the network works out his CD key authentication.
I work on a Canadian TV show that is syndicated around the world and we just started a new season of filming. Normally we are given 4 weeks to rig the studio but this season we only had 2 weeks due to complications. Needless to say things are going to be crazy for a few more weeks until we catch up. After this time I hope to actually have some energy at the end of the week to actually work on the Last Resort mod. Right now my weekends are spent crashing.
This mod may look dead, but it isn't.
Write comment (2 Comments)Working on new textures - March 4, 2022
The last few days I have been working on making new textures for MissionA (the one with Martin Brenner). What is new territory for me is that I am actually using a camera to generate new higher resolution replacement .TGA files.
.TGA files are the kind of textures that have transparent backgrounds and are usually decals that get applied on the floors or walls of the maps. Specifically in MissionA I am replacing old 64x64 pixel images that appear very blurry in game. Most of them are objects like newspapers, magazines, clothing, and papers that can be found on the floor or on desks.
I am using a cheaper older version of this light to bounce off the ceiling and my phone's camera to capture the images. I own a nice Nikon digital SLR but my phone's camera is good enough for the task. Once the photo is taken I import it into Photoshop on the desktop computer, remove the background manually, and create the final .TGA file.
I noticed that the NeuWon network has been down again for at least a week (I haven't checked in a while so not sure how long it has been down). While NeuWon is a fantastic idea it has been extremely difficult trying to get support from the owner. I have been thinking about removing the server tab from the Last Resort launcher due to a concern I have anyways that the server would get flooded with trolls. If the NeuWon network finally does come back I might reconsider.
Write comment (1 Comment)Almost Back To Modding - February 25, 2022
I previously mentioned how we lost my wife's computer to a simple power outage. This is the computer that she was using when working from home during the pandemic. Of course her work was more important than the Last Resort mod so I put it on the backburner until I could build a replacement. I ordered parts to upgrade my gaming/modding rig but partially because of supply shortages and also because of a 3 week shipping error it has taken several months to get this done.
She now has my old 4th generation Intel 7 as her computer and I have a shiny new Intel 5 12th generation that screams with speed.
I did a fresh Windows install onto a M.2 drive so it will take be a little while to get all my programs and tools re-installed for modding.
Don't worry all the mod files are safely backed up.
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