31
General Chaos / Re: New Zoom H1
« on: June 07, 2010, 06:52:14 PM »You have to remember [...]
Blah blah blah. Cigarettes aren't $20 a pack either (yet).
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Blah blah blah. Cigarettes aren't $20 a pack either (yet).
32
RPGs / Re: Game Fodder / Story Fodder
« on: June 04, 2010, 08:01:03 PM »
So it's cats, not bees, that carry the black ooze.
BRB, off to kill cats in the name of self preservation.
BRB, off to kill cats in the name of self preservation.
33
General Chaos / Re: New Zoom H1
« on: June 04, 2010, 07:52:40 PM »
$60 is a big difference. That's enough for three packs of cigarettes.
34
General Chaos / Re: New Zoom H1
« on: June 03, 2010, 03:30:59 PM »
Yeah, I have a feeling it's going to be pretty idiot-proofed. I'm interested in seeing the specs when it actually comes out. The setup I'm using for my current recordings uses two external mics suspended from the ceiling, so it's not really convenient to take on the road. It'd be nice to have something of substance to go mobile with that's not going to cost an arm and a leg.
35
General Chaos / New Zoom H1
« on: June 03, 2010, 12:07:57 PM »
There's a new H1 Zoom coming in July. Basic stereo recording, nothing fancy, but the $99 price tag and the SDHC expandable memory should put it on the radar of any po' folks looking to start recording their games.
36
General Chaos / Re: Making Desert Terrain
« on: May 26, 2010, 01:32:19 PM »
Update -
The glass crackle paint is cool, but it's weirdly uneven. I think that's because it was too thick in certain areas. But the depth is nice, and I'll retry to see if I can get it more even.
BUT
I ran to Michaels to buy a piece of glass for the paint crap and I found this stuff - DecoArt Texture Crackle. It's like a plaster with acetone in it. The cracks it makes are fantastic, but I'm having problems getting it to lay evenly.
Both are working really well, so as soon as I have one I'm happy with I'll make a mold.
The glass crackle paint is cool, but it's weirdly uneven. I think that's because it was too thick in certain areas. But the depth is nice, and I'll retry to see if I can get it more even.
BUT
I ran to Michaels to buy a piece of glass for the paint crap and I found this stuff - DecoArt Texture Crackle. It's like a plaster with acetone in it. The cracks it makes are fantastic, but I'm having problems getting it to lay evenly.
Both are working really well, so as soon as I have one I'm happy with I'll make a mold.
37
General Chaos / Re: Making Desert Terrain
« on: May 25, 2010, 11:43:03 AM »Dunno how effective this stuff is since I never used it myself, but I used to see it all the time.
Actually, I picked up another brand of the same thing when I went looking for the glass paint. I'm thinking that a shallow crack will be ok, provided the 1-to-1 picks it up enough that a darker ink wash will show up.
I'm casting molds of both tonight, and I'll see how they turn out tomorrow.
38
General Chaos / Re: Making Desert Terrain
« on: May 24, 2010, 04:14:57 PM »
I'll definitely give the Play Do recipe a try.
But I'm afraid with cracked cement I'd run into the same problem with the molding that i do with cracked plaster. I want to make casts of this to make multiple identical tiles, and MicroMark 1-to-1 doesn't like teeny tiny loose particles or too-deep crevices.
I wonder if I can do something similar to the first plaster attempt - over wet the cement and bake it to get nice cracks, and then set the loose pieces into a fresh puddle of cement to set up.
That's another option! Thanks!
But I'm afraid with cracked cement I'd run into the same problem with the molding that i do with cracked plaster. I want to make casts of this to make multiple identical tiles, and MicroMark 1-to-1 doesn't like teeny tiny loose particles or too-deep crevices.
I wonder if I can do something similar to the first plaster attempt - over wet the cement and bake it to get nice cracks, and then set the loose pieces into a fresh puddle of cement to set up.
That's another option! Thanks!
39
RPGs / Re: D20 Dice buy online?
« on: May 24, 2010, 12:13:20 PM »http://www.warehouse23.com/item.html?id=TYVGS6308
That link says my current dice aren't fuzzy enough and i believe it. Now I feel inadequate.
40
General Chaos / Re: Making Desert Terrain
« on: May 24, 2010, 11:55:19 AM »Have you tried using a heat gun or heat lamp (maybe a high walt bulb would work) to dry out some clay or curing plaster(play-do should work too)? To make cracks you want to quickly draw out the moisture.
I haven't tried doing that with clay because the stuff I use for sculpting is oil based and doesn't dry out like that. Any suggestions on something that will dry well?
Over the weekend I tried flash-curing plaster in the oven and got some really nice cracks, but had a bitch of a time getting a mold off of it, so I'm all but ruling plaster out as a base material.
A friend turned me on to a paint used for faking stained glass windows that's designed to crack, but the cracks are really shallow. If I can find a small piece of glass to test it on I'll see if what comes out is deep enough to paint.
Use an ink-wash in light brown
Thanks. The painting isn't the problem, it's getting a realistic texture to cast a mold of to make tiles.
41
General Chaos / Making Desert Terrain
« on: May 20, 2010, 04:17:09 PM »
We use miniatures a lot in our games and, while paper minis are awesome for combat, paper terrain just doesn't have the same tactile coolness that miniature terrain does. I use paper print-outs for floor bases, but I sculpt and cast other terrain features when I have a scenario where the characters will be spending a lot of time.
The next story arc takes the characters into the plain of ghosts, and I've got cool little piles of skulls and mysterious evil-looking totems, but a paper ground base is actually detracting from the creepiness factor.
I'd like to cast some thin plaster terrain tiles, but I'm having problems getting the look I want. I'm trying to get a cracked, parched desert effect, but I can't reproduce the cracks. I've tried the foil-in-clay method and, while that makes interesting topography, it doesn't look like a desert. I've tried carving lines into foamboard and using an acetone spray to corrode it, but then the cracks don't look realistic.
Last night I made up a thin sheet of plaster which I cracked with a hammer, and then reinforced with another layer of plaster. That's currently curing in a 1-to-1 mold, so I'll see later how that turned out.
But I'm wondering if there are other terrain builders here and whether or not they've found a technique for good cracking.
Anyone?
The next story arc takes the characters into the plain of ghosts, and I've got cool little piles of skulls and mysterious evil-looking totems, but a paper ground base is actually detracting from the creepiness factor.
I'd like to cast some thin plaster terrain tiles, but I'm having problems getting the look I want. I'm trying to get a cracked, parched desert effect, but I can't reproduce the cracks. I've tried the foil-in-clay method and, while that makes interesting topography, it doesn't look like a desert. I've tried carving lines into foamboard and using an acetone spray to corrode it, but then the cracks don't look realistic.
Last night I made up a thin sheet of plaster which I cracked with a hammer, and then reinforced with another layer of plaster. That's currently curing in a 1-to-1 mold, so I'll see later how that turned out.
But I'm wondering if there are other terrain builders here and whether or not they've found a technique for good cracking.
Anyone?
42
RPGs / Re: Game Fodder / Story Fodder
« on: May 18, 2010, 05:00:06 PM »
Dude, I just want a robot to roll my dice for me.
Roll my dice and make up adventures for me to run every week.
...
And maybe run them for me so I can just watch and play with the audio recorder. Actually, if it could record the game sessions for me too, that'd be sweet, that way I could focus on eating Pringles.
Roll my dice and make up adventures for me to run every week.
...
And maybe run them for me so I can just watch and play with the audio recorder. Actually, if it could record the game sessions for me too, that'd be sweet, that way I could focus on eating Pringles.
43
RPGs / Re: Game Fodder / Story Fodder
« on: May 14, 2010, 04:45:58 PM »
In only four days, a twin-engine aircraft equipped with an advanced version of lidar (light detection and ranging) flew back and forth over the jungle and collected data surpassing the results of two and a half decades of on-the-ground mapping, the archaeologists said.
Mapping Ancient Civilization, in a Matter of Days
Mapping Ancient Civilization, in a Matter of Days
44
RPGs / Re: Worse than Cynnabar?
« on: May 03, 2010, 01:40:22 PM »
SPI/Victory was everything that was wrong with role-playing in the 80s, but their John Carter game had some great reference material in it.
Still, the idea of running players through a complex, weeks-long Dallas campaign only to suddenly end it with "And then Victoria Principal wakes up. It was all a dream" has some serious entertainment value.
Still, the idea of running players through a complex, weeks-long Dallas campaign only to suddenly end it with "And then Victoria Principal wakes up. It was all a dream" has some serious entertainment value.
45
General Chaos / Re: "I'm in love with my grandson and we're having a baby"
« on: May 03, 2010, 01:24:43 PM »
I thought about using this as the basis for a modern day one-off, but then I remembered that X-Files episode was worse than anything I could come up with.