Well, now that this week is finally behind me... I don't know, I guess it's time to relax? I knew this week would come eventually and I think I held up fairly well... but, that still didn't stop it from being painful. There's no point in dwelling on that pain, though, because that is the past and time doesn't move backward, only inexorably forward.
I drew up the board for Hard Power yesterday and it looks darned pretty. Technically it isn't finished, because I still need to write in the territory values and resource markers, but... DAMN, I couldn't bring myself to ruin what is easily my best looking map EVAR. When I finally do get around to it, I've developed a system: each territory will contain a number, from 1 to 5, which is its value in Diplomacy Points. Each territory will also be colored in one of three colors (still determining which, but I think Green and Blue are definitely in) representing Food, Metal, or Oil. After that, I need to finish up the cards. They're mostly done, I just need to decide what sorts of pictures I want on the Territory cards since I can't use the pictures from the actual board -- it's too much work! ^^() Last, but obviously not least, are the pieces. I decided to make the pieces myself, so I bought an extra poster board for the job. Now I need to decide how many pieces to make.
Let's do some (Ugh!) math here...
56 Territories means 112 Territory Cards. It also means 112 Army/Navy units, 56 Bases, 112 Industries, and 168 Trading Ties per player. All together, that means 784 Army/Navy units (6 players + Neutral territories), 336 Bases, 672 Industries, and 1,008 Trading Ties. That's a grand total of 2,800 pieces! O_O()
I better buy some boxes for these things... O_O
To make things simpler on the brain, I think I'll round the numbers up to the next 10, so: 120 Army/Navy units, 60 Bases, 120 Industries, and 170 Trading Ties per player, thus 840, 360, 720, and 1,020, meaning a grand (FINAL) total of 2,940.
*jaw drops*
Good God! What sort of hellish monster have I created?! X_x
...I'd better buy some more poster board. XP
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
I Know the Location of Dr. McNinja!
Not exactly the most appropriate follow-up but...
I KNOW THE LOCATION OF DR. MCNINJA!
*ahem*
Reading the newest page, a map of the city Dr. McNinja lives in is shown. The comic's author, Chris Hastings, announced that we now had everything we needed to find the name and location of this actual real-world city. So, almost immediately, I set out to do just that! Through the magical wonder that we call "Google Earth", I typed in a bunch of street names that I could make out (New Hampshire Ave, Somerville Ave, etc), but what ultimately did it was the name of a park which I could JUST make out as "Constitution Park". It took about an hour, but I FOUND IT.
The irony? I used to live less than 50 miles from this city when I was in Kindergarten and 1st Grade!
Now, if anybody who reads this has ever listened to me mention my whereabouts between 1991 and 1993, you now have everything you need to know to find Dr. McNinja's hometown. =P
(I won't leave you hanging forever! Just IM me or something and I'll tell you. ^_^)
Also, with the other stuff going on, I haven't had a chance to mention my new board game idea: HARD POWER. Each player controls a country. Using military power, industrialization, and trade, the players must overcome their rivals to become the world's preeminent Hyperpower! I came up with most of it last week at work. The game play is fairly simple, in my opinion at least: each turn you use Diplomacy Points (basically, Money) to buy Industries, Bases, Trading Ties, or a Military (Army or Navy) unit. Unlike Risk or Axis and Allies, the emphasis isn't on conquest but on trying to expand yourself economically and PROJECTING power rather than flexing it. You begin by controlling only 1 territory, and you can only place Armies in either that Home territory or a territory you attack and annex afterwards. Most of the map is "Neutral" and each territory is its own independent country with its own domestic army that you must defeat before annexing. Annexing allows the player to secure resources and provides a safe, steady income... but, you can gain far MORE Diplomacy Points by placing multiple Trading Ties on these territories, MULTIPLYING the number of DP you get. There are also Event Cards to shake things up, which I have to thank Ed again for helping me develop a full 52 card deck of.
My only problem now is the map. Right now, the game uses the standard Risk map (because it's the easiest for me to get my hands on). Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Event Cards (you pick up 1 card for the event, then a second card for the territory the event occurs in), if I continue to use that map I'll end up with a Territory deck of 84 cards (42*2)! Ideally, I want a deck of about 52 cards, like the Event cards, so that means I should have only 26 territories. The problem? The map that I really want to use is the Risk map from the 1996 computer version, which has 60 territories. That... that's a bit more than 26. >_<>_<() Ah well... I suppose a 120 card deck isn't SO bad...
On a more serious note: the wake is today. This hasn't been a very pleasant week, but at least it hasn't been downright terrible (besides, you know, my grandma dying and my school screwing me over AGAIN). Tomorrow's the funeral, and then after that I guess it's going to be a matter of figuring out what to do about everything. They plan to sell my grandma's house and split the money among my Dad, my aunt, and uncle. This means everybody who still lives there needs to move. Malinda and Taliyah are looking for an apartment in Hasbrouck Heights. My Dad is going to help Aunt Sue find an apartment here in Fair Lawn, and John is supposed to move in with his friend in Pennsylvania. I guess time will tell how this will actually play out though.
I KNOW THE LOCATION OF DR. MCNINJA!
*ahem*
Reading the newest page, a map of the city Dr. McNinja lives in is shown. The comic's author, Chris Hastings, announced that we now had everything we needed to find the name and location of this actual real-world city. So, almost immediately, I set out to do just that! Through the magical wonder that we call "Google Earth", I typed in a bunch of street names that I could make out (New Hampshire Ave, Somerville Ave, etc), but what ultimately did it was the name of a park which I could JUST make out as "Constitution Park". It took about an hour, but I FOUND IT.
The irony? I used to live less than 50 miles from this city when I was in Kindergarten and 1st Grade!
Now, if anybody who reads this has ever listened to me mention my whereabouts between 1991 and 1993, you now have everything you need to know to find Dr. McNinja's hometown. =P
(I won't leave you hanging forever! Just IM me or something and I'll tell you. ^_^)
Also, with the other stuff going on, I haven't had a chance to mention my new board game idea: HARD POWER. Each player controls a country. Using military power, industrialization, and trade, the players must overcome their rivals to become the world's preeminent Hyperpower! I came up with most of it last week at work. The game play is fairly simple, in my opinion at least: each turn you use Diplomacy Points (basically, Money) to buy Industries, Bases, Trading Ties, or a Military (Army or Navy) unit. Unlike Risk or Axis and Allies, the emphasis isn't on conquest but on trying to expand yourself economically and PROJECTING power rather than flexing it. You begin by controlling only 1 territory, and you can only place Armies in either that Home territory or a territory you attack and annex afterwards. Most of the map is "Neutral" and each territory is its own independent country with its own domestic army that you must defeat before annexing. Annexing allows the player to secure resources and provides a safe, steady income... but, you can gain far MORE Diplomacy Points by placing multiple Trading Ties on these territories, MULTIPLYING the number of DP you get. There are also Event Cards to shake things up, which I have to thank Ed again for helping me develop a full 52 card deck of.
My only problem now is the map. Right now, the game uses the standard Risk map (because it's the easiest for me to get my hands on). Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Event Cards (you pick up 1 card for the event, then a second card for the territory the event occurs in), if I continue to use that map I'll end up with a Territory deck of 84 cards (42*2)! Ideally, I want a deck of about 52 cards, like the Event cards, so that means I should have only 26 territories. The problem? The map that I really want to use is the Risk map from the 1996 computer version, which has 60 territories. That... that's a bit more than 26. >_<>_<() Ah well... I suppose a 120 card deck isn't SO bad...
On a more serious note: the wake is today. This hasn't been a very pleasant week, but at least it hasn't been downright terrible (besides, you know, my grandma dying and my school screwing me over AGAIN). Tomorrow's the funeral, and then after that I guess it's going to be a matter of figuring out what to do about everything. They plan to sell my grandma's house and split the money among my Dad, my aunt, and uncle. This means everybody who still lives there needs to move. Malinda and Taliyah are looking for an apartment in Hasbrouck Heights. My Dad is going to help Aunt Sue find an apartment here in Fair Lawn, and John is supposed to move in with his friend in Pennsylvania. I guess time will tell how this will actually play out though.
Monday, May 21, 2007
My Grandma Died.
Just as the title says. She's been sick for about a year and a half now, she was in the hospice for a few weeks and only came home again a week ago. Yesterday, we got a phone call and heard that she didn't have much time left, so I we rushed over. We ended up spending the whole afternoon there. She passed away at about 7:30 last night.
*sigh*
I'm okay. My dad, my uncle, and aunt are taking it kinda hard (I think my dad might be taking it the hardest, honestly... he's looked like he was on the verge of tears for WEEKS now). The funeral is going to be Thursday.
What cements this as a terrible week? The fact that I'm supposed to be starting my summer classes today, but can't because the school says I STILL owe them money after I dealt with this WEEKS AGO. >_<
*sigh*
Ah well.
*sigh*
I'm okay. My dad, my uncle, and aunt are taking it kinda hard (I think my dad might be taking it the hardest, honestly... he's looked like he was on the verge of tears for WEEKS now). The funeral is going to be Thursday.
What cements this as a terrible week? The fact that I'm supposed to be starting my summer classes today, but can't because the school says I STILL owe them money after I dealt with this WEEKS AGO. >_<
*sigh*
Ah well.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Tying up Loose Ends
Well, school is wrapping up this week and I'm left with a few things to tie up:
I reinstalled The Movies. I haven't played it in at least 6 months, probably more, but I just had an urge to play it. The only thing that's stopped me from doing so since December has been my wanting to install it on the external harddrive rather than the internal, but already slow installation was just going to multiply when trying to install externally. Luckily, I had nothing else but this and my book today, so I installed while I read. It's done now, but I'm taking this opportunity to write here, and then do some stuff for my parents before finally digging into the sandboxy goodness. ^_^
Oh yeah! I saw Spiderman 3 Thursday night. I liked it! I thought it was really good, but NOBODY seems to agree with me! T.T Despite the fact that they tried to do too much, they managed to take the various storylines and combine them in a way that didn't feel artificial and just simply WORKED. My only real complaint was the lack of Venom action, but considering that there were two other storylines being worked on at the same time I forgive the writers for not being able to expand it further. Everybody else, though, seems to be somewhere between deep disappointment and total hatred of the movie. What the hell were they expecting, the greatest cinematic experience of their lives? o_O
*SIGH*
I liked it though, so that's all that matters to me really. What did you guys out there in the Interweb think?
- Apparently, I owe the school $909 for my first summer class. I intend to drive over to the Registrar tomorrow and complain. Are they saying my already enormous loans don't cover this? And they want this money by the 14th?! I won't have that much money by then! Maybe June 1, but not the 14. They're insane!
- My father STILL hasn't given me the necessary documents so I can finish my FAFSA. We're getting dangerously close to the middle of May, which is VERY annoying since I wanted this in the mail by May 1. I'm going to make sure I have then done today.
- I still have to do my poly sci paper. It's due tomorrow...
- I STILL haven't finished Chapter 17. I have the beginning and the end written, but now I need to do the middle of the chapter. Once its done, I'm hoping the rest will just wrap up quickly.
I reinstalled The Movies. I haven't played it in at least 6 months, probably more, but I just had an urge to play it. The only thing that's stopped me from doing so since December has been my wanting to install it on the external harddrive rather than the internal, but already slow installation was just going to multiply when trying to install externally. Luckily, I had nothing else but this and my book today, so I installed while I read. It's done now, but I'm taking this opportunity to write here, and then do some stuff for my parents before finally digging into the sandboxy goodness. ^_^
Oh yeah! I saw Spiderman 3 Thursday night. I liked it! I thought it was really good, but NOBODY seems to agree with me! T.T Despite the fact that they tried to do too much, they managed to take the various storylines and combine them in a way that didn't feel artificial and just simply WORKED. My only real complaint was the lack of Venom action, but considering that there were two other storylines being worked on at the same time I forgive the writers for not being able to expand it further. Everybody else, though, seems to be somewhere between deep disappointment and total hatred of the movie. What the hell were they expecting, the greatest cinematic experience of their lives? o_O
*SIGH*
I liked it though, so that's all that matters to me really. What did you guys out there in the Interweb think?
Friday, May 4, 2007
Evidently I'm Sexy
Yes, it's true, apparently women think I'm sexy. XD
On Wednesday night, I went to the Maltese Awards -- basically WPU's version of the Emmy's -- dressed up in my suit. Why? Well, my Exec. Producer told me to dress up "really fancy", which to me means "suit and tie". I walked in... and nobody was wearing suit. ><() Luckily, I saw a couple other guys DID after a couple minutes, so I wasn't all that embarrassed. People complimented me and said I looked really good, but beyond that I didn't think much more of it.
Yesterday, though, I ran into a few people who'd been at the awards ceremony. Two of them were ladies, particularly attractive ladies by the way, and BOTH OF THEM said:
"Paul! You looked GREAT last night. You looked so sexy."
^_____^
One of them even said she loved me, although that was under an entirely different context (but still! "You're Sexy" and "I love you" from hot chicks in the same hour? O.o It must be true! XD )
Later, I ran into a few guys who'd been at the awards. One told me that, after seeing me in a suit, any other clothes simply don't do me justice. Does this mean I should just start wearing my suit 24/7? If it has this sort of effect on people...
On Wednesday night, I went to the Maltese Awards -- basically WPU's version of the Emmy's -- dressed up in my suit. Why? Well, my Exec. Producer told me to dress up "really fancy", which to me means "suit and tie". I walked in... and nobody was wearing suit. ><() Luckily, I saw a couple other guys DID after a couple minutes, so I wasn't all that embarrassed. People complimented me and said I looked really good, but beyond that I didn't think much more of it.
Yesterday, though, I ran into a few people who'd been at the awards ceremony. Two of them were ladies, particularly attractive ladies by the way, and BOTH OF THEM said:
"Paul! You looked GREAT last night. You looked so sexy."
^_____^
One of them even said she loved me, although that was under an entirely different context (but still! "You're Sexy" and "I love you" from hot chicks in the same hour? O.o It must be true! XD )
Later, I ran into a few guys who'd been at the awards. One told me that, after seeing me in a suit, any other clothes simply don't do me justice. Does this mean I should just start wearing my suit 24/7? If it has this sort of effect on people...
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