iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

My continued efforts to ape the style of @ilchy.bsky.social in 3D. I've tried various painting programs - GIMP, Krita, Paint Shop Pro 3 - and the one I'm most comfortable with for this kind of painting is still just Blender! Don't mind the wacky goggles, they're going to be more sci-fi later

Six versions of the same head, dressed up differently

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It does become a lot easier with decent-looking characters mind you, rather than the nudist placeholder team

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Oops, forgot to add this one to the last post. It makes a lot more sense with this instead of the man's unpeeled face.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I can make models, but I'm a lot less competent at painting textures. As such, I've been using projection maps of @ilchy.bsky.social portraits for the game, and cleaning up the results afterwards to make it fit the head.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

A grumpy senior investigator for CEL. He's seen too much, and lately that's Lao's fault.

3D model of a tired-looking man in a blue jacket

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This Case-Officer-in-training has a triangle count comparable to Rinoa Heartilly, at around 1,000. I've prioritised other areas of her...geography...than FF8 did.

Rinoa Heartilly (FF8) standing next to [ANONYMOUS WOMAN IN BLUE TRENCHCOAT]. Black lines illustrate their topology

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Final Fantasy VIII and the later PS1 has been my latest monomania when it comes to style.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Incidentally, GoldSrc Saturdays is hosting Half-Life: Firearms this evening, in an hour. It's less reflexes-oriented than Counter Strike.

Half-Life: Firearms mod. A helicopter flies in front of a red sky

Half-Life: Firearms mod. Man kneeling with a rifle.

Half-Life: Firearms mod. View over some buildings.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

No, Half-Life: Firearms mod, I don't think you really need one and a quarter terabytes.

Installer for Half-Life: Firearms mod. It shows an error that won't allow installation until 1251963MB has been freed up

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

I do think it's amusing that the UK's new one-way effector drone (the effect being, "boom") is called "Nyan"

The "Nyan" one-way effector drone. It's like a Shahed with a jet engine.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Mother couldn't make it for my birthday since she was having lunch with Princess Anne (as one does), but she sent this cross-stitch that she made

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

It's called "enshittification". Strengthen publishers and shareholders, weaken beloved media. With remakes this can be done imperceptibly over time.

JC Denton (right) stands in front of NSF commander Leo Gold (left)

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I could see an adaptation of Solaris (1972) working as a game, though it would be an indie kind of project rather than a AAAA

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

"The Moon belongs to America, and eagerly awaits the arrival of our astro-men"

Black and white picture, the astronauts next to stars and stripes

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I'm at the point where I've been staring at it for so long that I'm no longer objective. How legible do you reckon this is?

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Cheffie the Chef also has her dark reflection, Punished Cheffie/Venom Cheffie

Anime girl with purple hair, in military fatigues, against a ruined background

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Cheffie the Chef is made up of a whole lot of bits and bobs, which grants her considerably more expressiveness than her previous incarnation

Anime chef broken down into component body parts

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Since she's made out of modular elements, we can have lots of different versions, including "Angry Cheffie", "Sad Cheffie", and طاهرة الطاهية (Tahirat Altaahia)

Anime chef with purple hair, a spatula, and an angry expression

Anime chef with purple hair and sad expression

Anime chef with purple hijab and happy expression

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Sometimes you're just in a mood that requires drawing an anime chef

Cheffie the Chef, an anime mascot for T.H.E. Foods corporation

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

I got my BEM-4 from a BDSM event in Vauxhall

Belgian BEM-4 gas mask, with carrying case

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

From this angle, the cockatiel looks like the wacky Neucom jets from Ace Combat 3

R-101 Rhincodon cargo plane escorted by two Delphinus fighter jets

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Back when production first started on Technobabylon, we had three different versions of a possible face for Latha

Screenshot from Technobabylon. A dingy apartment, with a speech portrait of a young woman in the corner.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Back before the full game came out, another developer (Coda Frost) made a VR version of the first section of Technobabylon. I was fortunate to have access to an oculus rift at the time!

Latha stands on a blue circle in the Trance

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I've inherited my brother's Index VR kit. Any indie VR game recommendations?

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Organizing and consolidating files, and sifting through the wreckage of various "Technobabylon 2" versions floating around my backup drives. Some of it makes me want to go back in time and slap past-James in the head, and others make me think "hey, that's not bad"

2D background art by Ivan Ulyanov. A dark, dirty hallway

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Reading through old Dan Dare comics, the moment that the original artist Frank Hampson leaves, everyone suddenly gets a lot more expressive.

Dan Dare, pilot of the future, giving an uncharacteristically shocked expression

Dan Dare, pilot of the future, visually expressing surprise

Dan Dare, pilot of the future, looking pensive and reflective

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

At least it's (probably) not funded by the CIA, unlike the 1954 version.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Even rarer card, SWAT founder and Sierra games consultant Daryl Gates

LAPD chief Daryl Gates confirms qualification of new officer

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Also features Cliff Richard singing a song about threatening his girlfriend

Thunderbirds puppet of the summer Cliff Richard

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Welcome to the mean streets of Neo-Paris

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Option A: Fix the unwrap Option B: That's just her aesthetic, get with the styles old-timer

Character with materials unwrapped in an incorrect way, leading to textures in the wrong places

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

It was also one of (thus far) three appearances in Star Trek for Elias Toufexis. He's on track to becoming the next Jeffrey Combs

Elias Toufexis as Starfleet prisoner Cold

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Right, off to play the 1976 board game of Starship Troopers, from back in the days before Verhoeven, and before sci-fi had adopted greebles.

The box art of Robert Heinlein's Startship Toopers board game, from 1976. Mobile Infantry soldiers in golden armour parachute in.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Should be enough face shapes to be going on with

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

"Tell...tale?" Why no, officer, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Render of 3D character model, using Blender Freestyle outlines. Young woman with red hair.

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James Deardenayake @technocratgames.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

"Visitors to Newton often misunderstand the difference between the terms 'thrall' and 'sconto'. The latter refers to those receiving city support - housing, food, clothing. The former covers those addicted to the virtuality of the Trance. There is, however, a high degree of overlap between the two."