My first review coming out of PAX is Bull's-Eye, which is independently designed by a DNA Family Games, a small company independently owned and operated by Doug and Nilda Loriz, who are both passionate about playing and making games.
The goal of the game is to accumulate a total of 100 points. Similarly to Scrabble, the primary mechanic for obtaining points is to assemble the letters that are in your hand into words, and are awarded points based on the value of the letters. However, unlike Scrabble, it is not always ideal to have the highest value words, as there are tiles that you can land on that allow you to draw cards that have various effects, ranging from putting everyone else back five places, moving you up as much as ten, or giving you immunity being hit by the negative effects of a future card draw. This gives the player more options to weigh, and adds a layer of tactics to the game beyond simply making the biggest word. Another difference is that rounds are timed and everyone is assembling their words at the same time and after each round of play the players get to draw a new hand rather than being stuck with the same consonants that you can almost never use. There is also an advanced mode where a dice roll determines how many letters the word can contain, adding an extra level of challenge to the game. The average time for a diceless game is 15 minutes, whereas the advanced game is roughly 30 minutes.
I really enjoyed Bull's-Eye as not only was it very fast paced, my spelling skills gave me a slight edge over my friends who attended PAX with me, who can typically beat me in a typical board game where tactics are normally the dominant factor. Having a good vocabulary of words and how to spell them is a definite asset to the game, and I can see it being very effective as a teaching aid for both teachers and parents. (A good house rule for parents is to let the kids spell words of whatever length they want, but have the adults follow the restrictions of the die roll) It also makes for a good party game as it is both fun and quick, so players don't have to dedicate the entire night to playing it.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to purchase a copy of the game before leaving PAX, and the game is not yet in circulation in Canada. However, I let Darrell at Lost Atlantis Games know about it, and given his interest in acquiring rare and difficult to acquire games, I may hopefully be able to pick up a copy from my local gaming store sometime in the future.
Just got back from the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, and there is so much to talk about. I have yet to sit down with my friends to begin to play through the plethora of games that we purchased over the course of the weekend, not to mention the games that we tried out and didn't purchase. I'll try to make a series of blog posts over the next couple weeks filled with reviews of all the different things I found there.
I'm noticing that the pen sensitivity on the Samsung Galaxy Note isn't as good as it should be right off the bat. While it is supposedly capable of higher levels, the sensitivity is automatically set to less than optimal levels of sensitivity, and the thing doesn't come with a way to adjust it.
I've spent the majority of my day so far trying to Root the device it to adjust the sensitivity settings and ended up almost bricking it. Now I need to go back and unroot it so that I can try again from square 1, or at least manage to fully boot it up.
Sorry about the month between my last two posts. I've been both busy with my new job and distracted by shiny new things. However, at last it seems the shiny new things have ultimately brought me back here.
I've recently acquired a new Samsung Galaxy Note, which has me all all exited. My last phone was a blackberry flip phone that I got when flip phones were already becoming something of an antiquity. Now it's like I'm entering a whole new world of awesome. The phone is a bit large, putting it mildly. This thing is like the classic xbox controller of smartphones. I don't really mind, as I've got big pockets.
But in all honesty, the size was actually one of the reasons I bought it. The other reason, which goes somewhat hand in hand, is the stylus that it comes with, and fits nearly into a slot in the back of the phone, similar to a Nintendo DS. The stylus, combined with the large screen pretty much means that I now have the perfect mini digital canvas. I just bought the Sketchbook app, and after a little bit of getting used to the interface, I have come to the conclusion that this surpasses the digital painting capabilities of my 3DS by far. For one thing, my smartphone possesses pressure sensitivity, so I can make lines that vary in terms of both width and thickness. Also, the screen is probably larger than both 3DS screens combined and with better resolution, so I have twice the canvas to work with. In terms of software, Sketchbook offers much better brush and later customization than Colors!3D.
In Summary, aside from lacking the gimmick of being able to paint in 3D, Sketchbook on the Galaxy Note trumps Colors! on the 3DS. Also, I can create my pictures and post them via the same device, which is another plus.
Anyhow, here is the result of a half hour of sketching. Enjoy. :D
In Fall 2011 and Winter 2012, I took a couple of Video Production courses at UFV. During for the duration of the first and second semesters of this course, the class was divided into groups of four. My team was composed of Cameron McCuish, Donna Flello, and Mike Racine. Of all four of the groups, ours was the only one to really work together really well as a team, without running into any conflicts. We were also the only group to continue on to the second semester with the exact same members.
Not all of the projects that we produced were good enough to bother with putting up on the internet. Some of the ones that we actually did put up are still probably not all that good. Regardless, I had a lot of fun working on making them, and I hope you enjoy watching them on some level.
You Saw Me?
Directed by Michael Racine
This was one of the first projects that we actually spent any serious amount of time in creating and editing, and managed to achieve some decent results with. The script for this was pre-written for us to interpret as we saw fit. Everyone had a turn giving the script their own unique spin, but Mike's interpretation was probably the most fun to make, as I got to do some maniacal laughter, throw some fireballs around and do a "death" scene. We did all the filming for this one in a single morning with just Mike Cameron and Myself, because Donna was unable to make it that day. It was also the only one that we bothered to put onto youtube. Mike's explosion effects got some notice from some of our friends in the Computer Information Systems department.
Interview with a Half-Elf
Directed by Myself
This was my individual project for the first semester of video production, and was also the first video project that I both wrote and directed. I had fun writing this one, as I got to poke fun at the misconception that people who play roleplaying games have a loose grip on reality. We borrowed one of Mike's places of work for an afternoon to work on it. Unfortunately, there was some traffic which interfered with the audio and the microphone was acting wonky, so the sound quality didn't turn out so well. My favorite part in this movie in both creating and watching was Mike's "Song of Soothing". While I had devised the lyrics on my own, Mike created his own melody to go with it. I did a pretty good job in implementing what locations and skillsets I had available to me for this one. The soundtrack was originally composed of parts of The Battle of Evermore, and Misty Mountain Hop, by Led Zeppelin, but youtube's content filters forced my to alter the soundtrack. Fortunately Mike was able to quickly mix me up a new soundtrack that I could easily switch into the movie, but it was so much better with the original music.
(On a side note, The Battle of Evermore syncs up really well with the Battle of the Last Alliance in the intro to Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring.)
Every Breath You Take (Stalker Music Video)
Directed by Cameron McCuish
This was Cameron's individual Project for Video Production 1. Cameron actually shot Mike's lip sync on the same day that we were filming Donna's individual project. We didn't really have a script for this, as it was pretty much Cameron and us making things up as we went along. Probably one of the reasons why Cameron decided to do this for his movie was because of some creepy death-stares I gave him while we were filming previous projects. Apparently I can be pretty creepy when I want to. I also started a running gag where I would occasionally flap my arms and make squawking noises while we were shooting this film when I thought that a particular shot was done, or I messed up my lines. I ended up ruining at least a couple good shots that way. Yay, me...
Past Tense
Directed by Michael Racine
Our group project for Video Production 1. This was the biggest movie we made in that semester, and of all the movies we did, probably took the longest to put together. I wrote the screenplay for this one, which jokingly got me a bit of a reputation in our group for giving myself the simplest lines. It was pretty fun to make, and we pretty much designed it so that we could experiment with a couple special effects, such as greenscreen and transporter effects. The best special effect that we dad in the movie was actually near the beginning of the movie, where we used the natural motion blur of fast moving objects to disguise a black wine box for a video camera. I'm surprised that nobody really picks that up until we point it out to them.
During the first semester, our group got to learn each other's strengths and areas of expertise, which really helped us to put out some quality work in the second semester. Mike was undoubtedly contributed the most to this group, as he already had a decent amount of skill in film-making, as well as access to a lot of professional gear. His official role was Director of Photography for Semester 2. Cameron was able to quickly pick up technical information from Mike, and ended up being our group's editor and 2nd cameraman. Donna's eye for getting everything just right made her the ideal choice for directing, as she made sure we had at least two perfect takes of every shot. Since there wasn't a writer position in the second semester, I ended up in the official role producer, as I had the most time available to me where I could handle details and keep everyone coordinated with one another. Another major reason as to why I ended up as the producer was because it allowed me to spend more time in front of the camera, because for some reason, I had the most talent and enthusiasm for acting in the group.
It's a shame that Donna hasn't put her individual projects on youtube yet, because she was able to get some of the best acting out of all of us. Probably my best work as an unprofessional untrained actor was in her videos. I'll keep poking her every couple months until she uploads her stuff.
Stay tuned for 2nd Semester. We get better at this, trust me.
I managed to find a job for July/August painting houses, so that means I'll be able to get back to blogging in my off hours. I'll try to make a new post twice a week, most likely trying to maintain a schedule of Thursdays and Sundays, as I will most likely have the most content and time on my hands.
So far, my board game review has received the most attention and positive feedback of all my posts, getting reposted by Lost Atlantis Games may have helped with that. While board gaming is not my biggest hobby, I think I'll try to put more of these up there, assuming my gaming group can get a steady supply of new and interesting games. I probably won't be reviewing board games that are already staples of most board game groups, such as Settlers of Cataan, Munchkin, Ticket to Ride or Carcassone. If you still really want to find out more about the aforementioned games, Wil Wheaton has a pretty good web series called Tabletop, where he plays board games with other celebrities within the geek community.
I probably won't post another D&D 5E recap until the playtest is over, in order to deliver a summary statement on what my thoughts on the game and where it stands in relation to previous editions of D&D and tabletop RPGs as a whole. While I am involved in multiple Tabletop Roleplaying games at the moment, I don't think my blog is the best venue for posting recaps of sessions. Again, if you want to see that stuff, you'll probably want to check my main group's forums, here. However, if our group is trying out a new system for the first time, or I have something big and long to say about RPGs that I want to share with people both inside and outside the group, I'll be putting that up here as well.
I've stared to develop an idea for a board game in my mind, so I may be putting some of the details on here, depending on how/if it develops. There's also been some talk in my group about working on a card game that we dreamed up the concept for as a group, and that may get further mention on the blog as well.
I'll also be putting up links to some of my digital artwork and youtube videos from when I was taking Video Production at UFV. You'll probably be seeing some of that on Thursday.
I'll close with a couple shout out to a couple of my friends' blogs. The first, is Ryan Domingo's Blog, What I Mean By "Hmm...". His blog is what really insprired me to create my own. He's been trying to maintain a posting rate of 1/day, and has been doing a decent job at that so far. The content that he covers is quite different from my own, and largely focuses on music and movie reviews, as well as sharing his explorations regarding his development as a unique individual. The other, is Fox Tails and Phoenix Down, which is where James Abrahams and his wife, Jacelyn, occasionally post bits and pieces from their life. The overall gaming related content has decreased as of late, but that's understandable, as James is married now, and gaming has become a less significant factor in his life. He is still trying to keep gaming as a regular aspect of his lifesyle, and is currently running a Warhammer campaign for our group. However, his schedule is much busier as compared to other people in my close circle of friends, so he is typically unavailable for more spontaneous events. James still has a passion for Lego on a hobbyist level, and is has been making some pretty rad things as of the past year. Keep an eye on his blog in case he shares any of his creations on it.
I started this post, expecting it to be a quick "hey guys, I'm back!" but it looks like I managed to fit a fair bit of content in here after all.
