[February 10th, 2025]
I have odd memories associated with the software SketchUp. i encountered it as a child, back when it was still owned by google, because...well, i don't actually really remember the context. i assume it was just something my dad or someone randomly showed me at some point, so i played around with it because it was just something i had access to.
in reality i probably only played with it a couple of times and not even for very long, i certainly didn't make anything interesting or worth remembering with it (y'know, on account of being a child with no interest in the types of things it was actually made for making) but it sticks out in my mind in a really strange way. the fact that i remember it at all makes it feel significant
it feels very emblematic of that sort of period of time where i would play on the family computer in...well, i was going to say complete silence, but i'm not sure how accurate that is. logically, there must have been headphones available, or i would just have the speakers turned down low or something. the majority of my computer time in that era would not have been silent, i liked playing games and watching videos too much for that, and yet i remember it as such. it is very strange.
it was definitely much quieter then than my internet use is now, at least. nowadays i have music or talking or other sounds on in the background basically constantly when i'm on the computer, and while i'm sure i did still have music on sometimes especially at the latter end of that era, i don't think it would have been anywhere near as frequent as i have it now. silent in comparison, i guess, even if not actually silent.
anyway
i remember visions of looking at sketchup, at a blank project with nothing but the default human figure within it
staring at the visual in total silence
while i made meaningless shapes off to the side
abstract blocks of flat color, and no purpose
this would have been around the same time (well, maybe a little later) i was obsessed with the portal games, and tag: the power of paint ended up on my radar by extension.
it fills a similar space in my head
i just wanted to play it because it was mentioned in portal 2's development commentaries. it wasn't really the kind of thing that would have interested me without that connection.
for some reason there was some sort of conflict regarding me wanting to play it, though...i don't really remember what it was, it might've just been that my parents were worried about downloading random files from random sites, or maybe there was something weird about the installation process that they didn't like, or...something. i have no idea what the issue was, and it clearly wasn't that bad since i was still allowed to play it in the end, but i vividly remember just feeling extremely guilty and shameful the entire time when i did finally get to play it.
the graphics are simplistic and offputting in a way that i enjoy a lot now. no/minimal lighting, blocky shapes, flat colors.
tag has a soundtrack. you can look up videos and see that there's sound the whole way through.
but for some reason, i remember it being totally silent.
[HOME]
I have odd memories associated with the software SketchUp. i encountered it as a child, back when it was still owned by google, because...well, i don't actually really remember the context. i assume it was just something my dad or someone randomly showed me at some point, so i played around with it because it was just something i had access to.
in reality i probably only played with it a couple of times and not even for very long, i certainly didn't make anything interesting or worth remembering with it (y'know, on account of being a child with no interest in the types of things it was actually made for making) but it sticks out in my mind in a really strange way. the fact that i remember it at all makes it feel significant
it feels very emblematic of that sort of period of time where i would play on the family computer in...well, i was going to say complete silence, but i'm not sure how accurate that is. logically, there must have been headphones available, or i would just have the speakers turned down low or something. the majority of my computer time in that era would not have been silent, i liked playing games and watching videos too much for that, and yet i remember it as such. it is very strange.
it was definitely much quieter then than my internet use is now, at least. nowadays i have music or talking or other sounds on in the background basically constantly when i'm on the computer, and while i'm sure i did still have music on sometimes especially at the latter end of that era, i don't think it would have been anywhere near as frequent as i have it now. silent in comparison, i guess, even if not actually silent.
anyway
i remember visions of looking at sketchup, at a blank project with nothing but the default human figure within it
staring at the visual in total silence
while i made meaningless shapes off to the side
abstract blocks of flat color, and no purpose
this would have been around the same time (well, maybe a little later) i was obsessed with the portal games, and tag: the power of paint ended up on my radar by extension.
it fills a similar space in my head
i just wanted to play it because it was mentioned in portal 2's development commentaries. it wasn't really the kind of thing that would have interested me without that connection.
for some reason there was some sort of conflict regarding me wanting to play it, though...i don't really remember what it was, it might've just been that my parents were worried about downloading random files from random sites, or maybe there was something weird about the installation process that they didn't like, or...something. i have no idea what the issue was, and it clearly wasn't that bad since i was still allowed to play it in the end, but i vividly remember just feeling extremely guilty and shameful the entire time when i did finally get to play it.
the graphics are simplistic and offputting in a way that i enjoy a lot now. no/minimal lighting, blocky shapes, flat colors.
tag has a soundtrack. you can look up videos and see that there's sound the whole way through.
but for some reason, i remember it being totally silent.
[HOME]