NEWS
   Current
   Archive
   PITCH BLACK
   Info/FAQ
   Screen Caps
   Cast/Crew/Biz
   Script
   Concept Art
   Wheat Script FAQ
   Unrated DVD FAQ
   Cards
   Links
   T.C.O. RIDDICK
   Info/FAQ
   Screen Caps
   Stills
   Characters
   Cast/Crew/Biz
   Script Pages
   Continuity Photos
   Figures
   Cards
   Links
   BUTCHER BAY
   Info/FAQ
   Media
   DARK FURY
   Info/FAQ
   Interview
   Media
   THE UNIVERSE    People    Places    Things
   SITE
   Messageboards
   Contact Email
   BruceL's blog
|
|
PITCHERBLACKER.COM NEWS ARCHIVES
|
|
January to February 2005
|
PitcherBlacker.com now closed
And so... it ends. After almost three years I've decided to hang up my goggles and shiv and head out into the bright sun.
Those of you that have seen the occasional post about this over the last couple of months knew this was coming, but for the rest of you, here's the scoop. PitcherBlacker has been a lot of fun, but for about a year before the movie came out and ever since, it's been a TON of work. The site workload coupled with my other hobbies and Real Life (tm) responsibilities has been crushing, plus I'm officially Too Old For This Shit (tm) anyway.
This decision has nothing to do with my opinions on the future of the franchise; I'm not 'bailing out because Riddick is dead' or anything. Far from it, I would love to be in a perfect world where I could cover all the ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY goodies I expect from the fan editing community, the next Riddick game, the forthcoming new PITCH BLACK and TCOR DVDs, and on and on and still have time and sanity for everything else.
But that pesky Real Life...
So I'm done. Despite being painfully cheap :), I'll still renew the domain and webspace for the next year so anyone happening by will have something to look at, but any sections that are incomplete are going to have to stay that way. Not my preference, but oh well.
I'm going to leave this farewell message up for a couple of weeks, then it will be replaced by a front page more suitable to lead visitors to the various site sections they may be looking for. If you've been visiting PitcherBlacker for a while and never had a reason to send an email, well, this'd be a great time to finally say hi. It'd be nice to have a flood of emails from visitors that I haven't talked to yet.
Big thanks to all you readers, too, both the lurkers and especially the ones that have helped out by sending in corrections, news items, or plain ol' friendly feedback. Peter, Matt, waimeawahine, Kriszta, and July standout as great friends of the site; thanks to you lot.
Wow, hard to believe that this is it. But it is. Take care, everyone.
|
TCOR cellphone game
Another fine news item discovered by Peter... take a look here to check out the specs on the TCOR game developed by PlanB for Nokia phones (that page has a detailed list of which ones). I don't have a Nokia phone so I can't test it out, and the brief description is basically just the plot of the movie:
Riddick finds himself chased by bounty hunters in the streets of New Mecca, the capital city of Helion Prime. After fulfilling his first missions, he gets caught and thrown into the prison of Crematoria. From there he plans to escape together with Kyra, who first has to be rescued. Eventually, Riddick wants to get back onto the Necromonger ship to finally defeat Lord Marshall.
At least there are screenshots. See below.
| |
Get a Riddick belt
Heh, my 51st update since I announced I was going to retire the site... am I slow to act, or what? Anyway, who else but Peter with the sharp eyes to spot another Riddick costume element that you can snag easily for yourself. The Riddick belt, aka a military open face buckle on a web belt, from either US Cav or Brigade Quartermaster.
|
CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK gets Saturn award nominations
TCOR snagged two nominations, one for Best Special Effects (to Peter Chiang, Pablo Helman, and Thomas J. Smith) and the other for Best DVD Special Edition Release. The effects category features some pretty stiff competition, but there's no chance in the DVD category as the RETURN OF THE KING Extended Edition is a lock for that win. Spotted this on VX. View the other nominees here, and watch for the results after May 3.
CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK sweet international poster
Peter spotted this and asked Kriszta at VX, who dug up a large version over at the Dutch UIP site. So far we haven't seen any sales information.
| |
TCOR caps done
I think there are like eight hundred... Check them out here. Looks like this will be 'the week'...
|
CGW awards BUTCHER BAY an award
Spotted a PR showing that Computer Gaming World handed Action Game Of The Year to ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY. Sweet.
|
BUTCHER BAY level editor updated
Noticed that Starbreeze has released an updated version of Ogier 1.03 (anyone know why they didn't increment the version number?), the level editor used to allow fans to make BUTCHER BAY user levels. I spotted that in this thread on the Ogier help forums. Note that all you have to do is download 1.03 again.
- Rendering of models that are used for normalmap generation (Highres and Lowres)
- Templates using physmodels now use that as icon instead of the class-specific one
- Revived viewing of .XW files as models
- Ability to select keys (NodeBar)
- Copy/Paste keys (NodeBar)
- Removed Direct3D from Render selection
- Pointed Installed Ogier icon to correct target
- Selection method reverted to the original (Sorcery version). Right-clicking to unselect isn’t necessary anymore (optional in Preferences)
- Tweaked "bigbrush" selection conditions to allow for selection of engine_path when zoomed in 2d views
- Changing class of a group doesn't destroy the brushflags (NoForceSnap/Hidden etc.) on the grouped objects
- Center function centers on selected vertices of available instead of the center of the object
- "Show scenepoints" toggle implemented (under View menu)
- Selecting a target key and pressing another entity automatically sets that entity as target (and generates a new targetname if there is none)
- Combiner keys are not activated when they are hidden by hideoptions.
- Debug-solids rendering works again
|
Another Riddick knife identified
Knife-lovers should rejoice that Peter found this site, as he's been steadily researching all the different shivs used in the movie and has found a new one. Here are his thoughts on the latest discovery:
Up until now, I always thought there was only one Necromonger knife style, the one Riddick kicks out of the Necromonger's hand during the fight on Crematoria. The big dagger pulled out of the back of the big Necromonger guard (called Irgun the Strange in the novel) never counted as a Necromonger-designed weapon since it was made and apparently shoved into Irgun's back by some enemy on a planet the Necromongers conquered long ago. I always believed there was only one style of Necromonger knife in the film. Turns out there are (at least) two. The first one is the one I initially identified as a specially created prop based on Kit Rae's "Black Legion" dagger. It's the same one that's been on eBay for $750.
The second one is, unmistakably, Kit Rae's Black Legion Dagger. Everything matches. The guard, the blade, the butt end of the handle, the whole thing. The only modification is the prop department enlarged the hole closest to the cross guard to a true circle rather an oval and might have also enlarged the second hole up, as well.

My guess is the first knife is supposed to be a Necromonger "foot soldier's" dagger. The Black Legion Dagger, being more elaborate, represents a Necromonger "officer's" dagger. There's some support for this, since Riddick is wearing an officer's armor (with the circular "saw" ridges on the shoulder) when he infiltrates the Bascilica.

So, the bad news is that I was wrong and Kit Rae was right.
The good news is that you can now add Kit Rae's "Black Legion" Dagger as a genuine Necromonger officer's knife to the site's archives.
Take a look at the cap above and you'll see that Peter has nailed this one too. The two knives in the screencap are the ones he uses to kill the Necromongers standing outside the Quasi Grotto before using the Irgun knife and launching himself at the Lord Marshall. Peter was kind enough to dig up a link to buy one of these from Smoky Mountain Knife Works, and said this, "I can personally recommend the company, having dealt with them for over 15 years." I've updated the TCOR FAQ with this new knife, and you might want to check that document out if you haven't been watching the news posts and want to find out about some of the other knives.
TCOR costumes on display
If you're in the Los Angeles area, make sure to cruise by The 13th annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing. This show is running through April 23rd and will have some CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK costumes on display. Here's what the article says:
Among the many opulent costumes on display at the exhibit were those created by Ellen Mirojnick and Michael Dennison for the movie the "Chronicles of Riddick."
The entire wardrobe consisted of more than 700 costumes and was created in about 20 weeks, an undertaking that was complicated by the fact that they were being designed in two workshops in Los Angeles and Vancouver, said Dennison, who also did the costumes for "Mona Lisa Smile."
While the sheer scope of the task of creating a fantastical, netherworld atmosphere, keeping up with script changes and ensuring that the costumes allowed for acrobatic fight scenes among the characters placed additional restraints on the costume design, Dennison said that, in the end, the process was fun and exciting and that he "enjoyed pulling out all the stops."
Though distinct in their style and effect, all of the costumes demonstrate the creativity and talent as well as the meticulous attention to detail of their creators.
Dennison brought up an unfortunate point when he mentioned that most of the time the costumes have to be more elaborate and detailed in real life than they might appear on film, and thus, much of the time and effort put into making the costumes goes unrecognized by the average viewer.
"Usually, the audience doesn't see how elaborate and detailed the costumes actually are," he said. "That's why it's important that events like this, where you can see them up close, allow people to appreciate how much work goes into making the costumes."
"The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" is on display through Apr. 23 at the FIDM Museum & Galleries, located at 919 S. Grand Ave. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, visit http://fidm.com or call (213) 624-1200.
Swingblade kits still going strong
Despite this being my third attempt to actually get one of these, it does appear that other people are having better luck. PitcherBlacker knife expert Peter has gotten his, and Bobadebt is in the process of sending out his latest full run. This leads me to believe that if you still want this kit that can get you a nice duplicate of Riddick's curved Crematoria shivs, then you should still get in touch with Bobadebt. The kit gives you a lot of pay and free options, including things like mounting plaques. Take a look at this thread that describes the project and then email the man here.
Also, if you have already gotten one of these, it would be cool if you emailed me with your thoughts on the transaction, and also tell me how the handle modification process is going.
|
Official TCoR Footwear
Okay, here's one for the ladies: the official ladies shoe manufacturer for TCoR. Valentine's Day is coming up.... why not surprise your special someone with the same funky footwear Dame Vaako and those Necromonger babes sported? Thanks to Peter for the entire update.
Still here...
So much for 'early January.' The chaos of the last few weeks has made it impossible for me to polish off the TCOR caps and then retire the site, as some of you may have noticed. I've still got that goal in mind though, so let's see how this week goes. At this rate I won't be out of here until early Jan '06...
|
Pipecleaner Hammerhead
Oh yes! Too sublime for my inadequate vocabulary, so I'll let the artist introduce his own creation:
This is my newest and most biggest pipe-cleaner creation, the Hammerhead Alien from Pitch Black.
With poseable tail, movable wings, extendable tentacles, moveable jaws,
this can be matched against a Riddick action figure.
Standing 6 inches tall on it's tail, it can be considered as an action figure, or a toy.
I'm Raphael Verzosa, and this masterpiece is not for sale.
| |
Still alive...
This time it was the phone line into my home office. Can you believe this crap? More updates Monday.
|
Riddick on Crematoria sculpt
Got a message from Joe Simon, who did a Riddick bust sculpture that I had posted about a while ago, that he's got a new one in the works. Check out the picture below; pretty f'in sweet. This is also going to be released as a "garage kit" and he said to me that anyone who's interested in information should shoot him an email at joe.a3rdeyedesign@gmail.com.
| |
PITCH BLACK to go HD DVD too
I totally missed it when I first saw the press release about what movies Universal was going to put out on HD DVD, only catching TCOR, but reading further it appears that they'll be putting PITCH BLACK out there too. I won't even bother speculating on what the disk will contain, but start saving kids for the triple dip!
Riddick bust finally available
Credit goes to Peter for spotting a couple sites that have started to sell SOTATOYS' 6" resin Riddick mini-bust. This thing is SWEET. It's selling for fourty bucks, although one went for thirty on ebay last week, and it's limited to 1000 pieces worldwide. The goggles can be removed. Here are some places to snag one:
Ogier help document released
Those of you who want to get into making user maps or doing other fan content for the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY have hopefully been keeping your eyes on the Ogier help forums. Anyway, Starbreeze has released some documentation to help with your efforts and there is a useful thread discussing additions to it here.
Riddick gets a Razzie
I guess this was inevitable... Vin get's nominated for Razzie Worst Actor for TCOR. Of course, he's up against George W. Bush for his performance in FAHRENHEIT 9/11 so I think you can probably see which way this one is going to go.
Correction: INTO PITCH BLACK on *Japan* R2 DVD
For the longest time I've been saying that SciFi's hour-long promotional movie INTO PITCH BLACK (released to promote the original PITCH BLACK theatrical run) was on the UK region 2 DVD. But site visitor Karel Kasparek set me straight by pointing out that it's actually the Japanese R2 disk that has this as an extra. Some good details on different PB DVD versions can be found here, and take a gander at the menu from the J version.
Back in action for now
Sorry for the downtime, been sick myself and also busy as heck. Let's see if I can get any updates posted... got quite a few things piled up. Plus I have TCOR capped, now I just need to sift through the 1300 images and pick the best ones and format/post 'em.
|
Downtime due to sick time
Just a quick note that one of my kids was in the hospital from Saturday to Tuesday with a persistent stomache bug, so I'd been staying there with her. She's better now so we're both back home, but then there were server problems causing access issues to the site. I've got more news updates to post thanks to some observant readers that have been sending stuff in, it's just a matter of getting Real Life back on track first. Stay tuned.
|
Happy Birthday Bricio "Silverojos" Velasco
Wanted to take a second and wish one of the PitcherBlacker readers I've been talking with a lot recently a very Happy Birthday. Hope you have a great day, Bricio!
|
Downtime in the world of PB
Not much going on out there that I've been able to sniff out to post about. Those of you that are digging into the BUTCHER BAY editing should stay tuned as I did spot a new tutorial and some posts from Starbreeze on the Ogier help forums, but then again you probably saw those already anyway. Universal's HD-DVD announcement is all over the place; should be interesting to see how that shakes out. Not sure I'd rather have an HD version rather than a true double-dip with beefier extras. Spotted a few more syndicated hacks with TCOR on their worst-of lists. Blah. Been hard finding time to get in front of the computer so the TCOR caps are still coming slow, along with the Universe updates. Soon enough, hopefully.
|
Starbreeze shows off character models
A couple of the Starbreeze crew hit the Ogier help forums to show off some skinned and unskinned high-resolution renders of BUTCHER BAY character models. Check out Tom's here and then crank up the hamsters on the modem wheel and prepare to suck down a very long page full of very huge images on Patrik Karlsson's personal site here. Pretty damn sweet stuff, and it's a wonderful wonderful world we live in when stuff this detailed is considered low-poly.
TCOR to go HD
The latest salvo in the format wars to replace DVD has been fired, as you can see in this press release where Universal has announced a list of their movies that will be released on HD DVD. THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is included.
|
Variety article on PB and TCOR DVD sales
Credit goes to VinXPerience for having the Variety subscription, heh... Check out the link above for an article that points out that the PITCH BLACK DVD re-release sold a million units and THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK has sold 3 million. The article gives a sideways mention to the existence of DARK FURY but doesn't quote any numbers, unfortunately.
Big update to Universe/People section
Ok, like the title says I've done a big update to the People part of the Universe section of PitcherBlacker. This is where, incidentally, I've been trying to keep track of all the character that appear in the various franchise media. Anyway, this latest update cleans up the earlier entries, adds sourcing info for all of them (i.e. whether they come from TCOR, BUTCHER BAY, the PITCH BLACK novel, the Hunt For Riddick webgame, etc), and then adds a bunch of new entries. Get to work, fanficcers!
BUTCHER BAY patch on the way?
Starting to hear some noise about a possible patch for EFBB, and spotted the following post on the main VUG forums from one of their guys...
VUG-Greg (Interactive Marketing)
I am compiling a list of issues for PD - this is the first step in the patch process. Sorry I can't provide more than that at this time.
TCOR on some worst-of lists
E! has a poll up here that includes TCOR as one of the options for biggest disaster, and MSNBC names TCOR as #1 worst movie of the year. Here's a quote from this last piece, incisively carved out by the brilliance of someone named Michael Ventre who treads stellar new writerly territory by using startlingly creative puns like "cat-astrophe" and "cat-atonic" in a CATWOMAN smackdown. Genius!
Here is a list of the 10 worst pictures from 2004. This was compiled after taking a highly unscientific survey of academics, cinema historians, casual movie-goers, fast-food cashiers, bus drivers, mental patients and slobbering morons.
Credit to VX.
New EFBB editing tutorial: HOWTO: A simple sky
Dan S. is at it again on the Ogier forums, this time with a tutorial on adding one of those awesome Starbreeze skymaps to your own maps.
Jens hits the EFBB editing forums
The Starbreeze guys must be back from their vacation, because Jens (going by the forum nick 'Jesse') has been all over the Ogier help forums recently. Here are just a few of his posts, but the most important thing to note is that they are planning on releasing some editing documentation soon.
Riddick editing questions
Hopefully we should release the first version of a full documentation within a week or so. You can probably find a lot of info there.
Regarding the SFX textures. You can find the entity "SoundVolume" in one of the example levels. With this you can create directional sounds within a volume by referencing the sound by using the different SFX textures.
Not sure what you mean with Scenes. If you are talking about cut-scenes, there is on in Prison Area. Cutscenes are usually not very different from normal scripting.
Ogier 1.03
Ok. So Ogier 1.03 with Riddick and KotT GDK was release a few days before Christmas. I never got around to make a formal annoucement about that, but you guys seem to have found your way anyhow.
New for the Riddick GDK (and to some extent the KotT one) release is some other examples of content that can be created/converted with Ogier. Apart from just levels, you should be able to find example material for creating a lot of different kinds of content like models and textures.
I hope you enjoy it!
Anyway to see high poly models? Riddick
There is no way to see the high resolution models that was used for the creation of the normal-maps. I've been toying around with such a feature, but it haven't been properly implemented yet. Hopefully I will get the feature working sooner or later.
To do that you would also need access the the source material, and that is only available for three example models in the Riddick GDK.
Quick note: No Xbox cheats (?)
Had a handful of emails recently asking about cheats for the Xbox version of BUTCHER BAY, and all I can say is that I've done some Googling and not found any. I'd think they probably exist as cheats are actually just useful development tools, but maybe someone will have to ask Starbreeze.
Quick note: New screen caps link fixed
Thanks to July at Greetings 4rm Vin for pointing out that my newest page of TCOR screen grabs was b0rked. Now it's fixed.
|
First BUTCHER BAY mapping tutorial
One of the users over on the Ogier help forums has put together a nice simple starting tutorial to make things like hangable ledges and guard patrol paths. Click the link to take a look.
|
Eurogamer: BUTCHER BAY #2 best of the year
As in, better than a new GTA game. Better than a new Metroid Prime game. Better than a new Halo game. Only beaten by a new HALF LIFE game, an opinion which I suppose I understand. Can I get a holy crap?
the game crept up behind the tired old concept of a movie license, shot it in the face with its own gun, dragged its limp corpse into the darkness, hopped in a Mech suit and shot the Status Quo into bloodied mulch
More TCOR caps up
God, this is going to take forever...
|
Necromonger knife prop on Ebay
In the words of Peter, who spotted this and sent it in... "Got $750.00 that's not doing anything except cluttering up your bank account?" If so, then this is for you, the prop knife that Riddick kicks into the air, catches, and tosses into the forehead of the Necromonger that attacks Kyra in the Crematoria fight. Pretty snazzy.
EFBB Developer's Cut thoughts
In celebration of the new year, I finished the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY. I feel I should rescind my initial impressions of it being a "quick and dirty port", because the additional content really puts this in a different league. Not just the fact that a lot of the cigarette extras are new, and not just the addition of the fight and animation maps, but that whole section where you pilot a Riot guard was great, really great. I loved the little extras like if you jump out and explore you can see a couple convicts getting executed, and also the lunch room with the pictures of the dev team on the wall. Plus the new enemy mechs that you only see in that one section are cool, nice design and fun to fight. I don't remember seeing the convicts with body armor or guards half-in the Riot Guard gear that you can kill, though. Musta gotten yanked at the last minute. And too bad about the bugs that a lot of people are finding... I never had a single problem.
The noclip cheat offered up some interesting stuff, and hopefully game fans do some exploring. I am a big fan of well-done skymaps, so it was cool to fly out of the level and check out the excellent ones Starbreeze did. Also kind of fun to get a shotgun in the very first level where you snap Johns' neck, and instead have a gun battle with him. And I have to mention how blown away I was on the map where you finally get to the spaceport and the ship... using noclip I flew around the face of the prison and that is a REALLY HUGE map! Great engine.
I also took a few minutes and restarted the game to listen to the developer's commentary. I love the fact that the icon is a floating Starbreeze symbol with two boomboxes strapped to the sides, heh. This looks to be a really kickass and interesting feature, especially to someone like me who's always been interested in the development side of gaming. Sure would be nice to pull the sound files using the editor, though, rather than replaying the whole thing.
Happy New Year
Hope 2005 is a great year for everyone. I'm sorry that this is the year that PitcherBlacker gets retired, but I'm sure you all understand that charity, family, and career will be great ways for me to spend the time that I'll free up. Should be a fun one for fans, though... I'm still convinced that some sort of DVD double-dip is inevitable, so that and a sequel game (I still vote for a prequel to EFBB where Riddick breaks out of Slam City and goes on the run with Johns in pursuit, exploring different planets and taking down cannon-fodder Mercs before the final showdown that ends with Riddick being taken to Butcher Bay) should at the very least get announced sometime this year. Hopefully some user maps for BUTCHER BAY will pop up somewhere, too. And with the development schedule they had on BUTCHER BAY, it's at least plausible to think that the next game could hit by Christmas. SOTA still has the Riddick busts coming, don't forget. Two Vin movies (THE PACIFIER and FIND ME GUILTY) should be out, and news should start happening on Twohy's upcoming non-Riddick script. The KYRA TV show is probably toast, but there might be some rumors starting to fly I'd guess near the end of the year regarding another Riddick movie. I'll be watching!
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|