Beginning Ballerina Programming: From Novice To Professional - ScanLibs

Beginning Ballerina Programming: From Novice to Professional

Misty Knows The One True Religion

When it comes to getting rid of demons, Jesus Christ is the only way. Mohammed cannot help you, Buddah is useless, there is only one name before whom they must all kneel, the name of Jesus Christ (and the names of His Holy Saints, who are filled with Him and reflect Him).

Epic Craftworld Lugganath Eldar

I finished up the Void Spinners the other week and also went back and updated the rocks on some of the older bases to match my newer scheme. I'd still like to strengthen the black highlights on the super-heavies at some point but figured this was a good place to leave for the year. So here's just over 6,000 points of my Epic Craftworld Lugganath Eldar army. Still plenty left to do though (Aspects, Guardians, Wave Serpents and Titans being the bulk of it).

People Behind The Meeples - Episode 207: Jeremiah Donaldson

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Jeremiah Donaldson
Email:	jerry@ephiroll.com
Location:	London, Ky
Day Job:	Was in call centers the last 5 years, but that's bad for my health and I'm in the process of switching things up.
Designing:	Five to ten years.
Webpage:	http://www.ephiroll.com
Blog:	http://ephiroll.com/wordpress/
Facebook:	Ephiroll Productions
YouTube:	Jeremiah Donaldson
Other:	https://ello.co/ephiroll
Find my games at:	Everything is on Amazon, my card games are also on The Game Crafter, and my RPG stuff is on DriveThruRPG.

Today's Interview is with:

Jeremiah Donaldson
Interviewed on: 8/17/2019

Jeremiah Donaldson is a designer and author from London, but Kentucky, not the UK. He's written several sci-fi and horror stories and designs games set in the worlds he's created for those stories. Read on to learn more about Jeremiah and the projects he's working on.

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Five to ten years.

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
It's an extension of my writing.

What game or games are you currently working on?
Death Derby expansion stuff (combat racing game), Post-apocalyptic Escapades (a 18+ RPG game), and Full Moon Tech (a capture type game in which rival biotech companies try to capture the most werewolf DNA before the government).

Have you designed any games that have been published?
Death Derby and The Disturbance Timeline RPG with its two modules.

What is your day job?
Was in call centers the last 5 years, but that's bad for my health and I'm in the process of switching things up.

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
Home.

Who do you normally game with?
Friends and family.

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
It'd probably be up to them and it'd probably be Death Derby.

And what snacks would you eat?
Doritos.

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
Industrial Rock stuff (like Powerman 5k) and/or Industrial Techno (like Phosgore).

What's your favorite FLGS?
Don't have one.

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
My current favorite is my game Death Derby, there's not been repeat race in nearly 500 hours of playtime. Yahtzee. You Are the Maniac.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
No favorites, I just do what needs to be done to do what I want something to do and then to smooth it out.

What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
Any old Shadowrun tabletop game.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, RPG Games, Video Games

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Card Games, RPG Games

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
No

You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.

When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
I'm a writer, so the theme is always first. Furthermore, my main card games are an expansion of my RPG. Death Derby is the vehicle combat section pulled out and made into a game and Post-apocalyptic Escapades is a super stripped down version of the RPG itself.

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
No.

Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
Sid Meier

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
Everywhere, but I also have a sandbox SF world that covers the next 2k years of human history that my SF and most the game stuff is set on.

How do you go about playtesting your games?
Extensively.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
Alone. Anything I need done is essentially contracted out as needed. Some playtesters also double as actors and cameramen, etc.

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Marketing, but that's more on the publishing side.

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscure

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
Try it out sooner.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Playtest, playtest, and playtest. Then when you think you've playtested enough, playtest some more.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have: Death Derby and The Disturbance Timeline RPG
Games that will soon be published are: Death Derby: Nature's Rage expansion
Games I feel are in the final development and tweaking stage are: Death Derby: High Octane
Games that I'm playtesting are: Post-apocalyptic Escapades
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are: PA Escapades expansions: Mad Mansion and Escape from Xan
And games that are still in the very early idea phase are: Full Moon Tech, along with a few others: Scavenger Lords that stalled before Alpha, Post-apocalyptic Arena that failed initial playtests and was reworked into PA Escapades, and a serial killer capture game that was a collaboration which stalled a short ways into playtesting and inspired Full Moon Tech.

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
The Game Crafter, the majority of FB groups are swamped with beginner questions and too noisy for real work.

And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Both. Pepsi. VHS.

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Writing, gardening, and taking care of my place.

What is something you learned in the last week?
That all the call centers in my town have bad air and I have to find another line of business to pay the bills.

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Industrial. Non-fiction science and history. The ones not many others like like American History X and Fight Club.

What was the last book you read?
Several stories out of Stephen King's Everything's Eventual.

Do you play any musical instruments?
I wish.

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I'm going to try making my 1/2 acre of property self sufficient.

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I chased my married friend's husband out the door on break to apologize and risk a punch in the jaw to keep anyone involved from losing a job.

Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
I got a horrible infection in my left leg that cost me a job, but the job I went to is where I met a friend that helped me a great deal.

Who is your idol?
Neil Degrasse Tyson

What would you do if you had a time machine?
Probably run back and forth in time like I was on a road trip.

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Introvert with short periods of extroversion.

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
Tony Stark

Have any pets?
Cats

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
I think any game has a chance, which is why I want to make a couple stand alone card games, and the more those games teach as far as strategy goes, the more useful they'd be to anyone that finds them. Nothing would be wiped out though. Everything comes back around after enough time just like bell bottoms.

Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions! Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?

I hope the interview thing doesn't bug out this far in. :)

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Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html

Did you like this interview?  Please show your support: Support me on Patreon! Or click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

1000 Posts

   Well, it only took a decade or so... but this is the 1,000th post on my blog.  Should I do a giveaway? I think I ought to do a giveaway. Maybe some dice? Or a mini? What do you think? Comment below with what you think I should use for the giveaway, and that will be your entry into the giveaway!

   I am giving away some dice on my Twitter feed if you follow that, too... @JWomackKingGeek

Guild Ball New Resin Models Review

So after Captain Con all the Guild Ball talk from my buddies got to me and I'm completely hyped for the game all over again.  It's odd, it was roughly around this time last year that I had the same thing happen to me as I go back and look through the blog posts.  I guess I just have to accept that my love for Warmachine and Guild Ball will wax and wane for seemingly no reason.

But since I am interested in the game, I wanted to pick up the minor guilds for the main guilds that I already own.  This meant picking up Navigators and Miners. What's more is that Steamforged surprised us all and released new captains for 4 of the original guilds, one of which is for a team I own: Yukai on Fishermen.

Since I had to skip out on game night tonight, but I did get time to build the models which arrived I figured I'd put up a review of sorts.

It wouldn't be Steamforged if there wasn't some kind of oddity with how the models were being released.

The good news was that the Captains were being released individually, not in a big box that had models for various guilds! Sweet!

The bad news was that it was basically direct only! Boo!

I tried to order through my FLGS, but when they had setup their retail account on SFG's website, they were effectively ordering at cost which seemed...odd?  As it ended up, they couldn't order for me since the models I wanted were out of stock at the time and since they weren't making any money on the sale it seemed like a waste to try and line up when the models would pop back in stock AND I'd have to get over to my FLGS to effectively put a web order in for me that they weren't even going to get a cut of.  In the end, I simply placed my order through SFG once the models popped back into stock a day or so later.

The last odd bit was that the Miners guild and all the new captains were being released in resin.  I have not yet really seen any of SFG's resin minis. The rationale according to SFG was that Miners had such big models that it made sense to use resin, and they were obviously having problems getting the PVC models out of manufacturing in China.

That last part is a bit of a shame since I'm an absolute huge fan of SFG's PVC models.  I have Blacksmiths and now Navigators and the fact that you open the box and can use them with zero assembly or fuss is amazing. The sculpts are solid IMO and they've painted up nicely so far.

So what about the resins? Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality. It seems like the original Games Workshop Finecast models when they originally released. It feels like a kind of soft/fragile resin.

Here's my assembled set of new models:

The models don't look particularly bad, especially not 3 feet away, though there are a few rough bits. 

The first issue I had was stability. When I had seen my friends Yukai model at game night last week, they were kind enough to let me play a game with it to try out their new rules. What immediately struck me was how light and flimsy the model felt. It doesn't help that the model attaches to the base via a single leg connection. 

As you can see below, both Yukai and Spade both use the single leg connection. It looks cool, but that's just touchy and is begging to come off the base.  

My solution was pinning through the leg as deep as I could manage without damaging the model. I then pinned through the base itself, which is tad shorter height wise than the usual base height you'd expect.

In both cases I went right through the base immediately and after pinning through I had to cut off the paperclip pin and then file down the bottom to make it flush. You don't want to go tearing up the nice neoprene mats we play on.

Once I did pin through the leg and base, the models definitely feel a bit more solid. I highly recommend it. 

In terms of quality, I'm conflicted. Yukai looks good, but the model had a bit of odd flash that had to be shaved off the chin/neck which was a bit tight. 

There were some definite issues with Fissure (the Tank), at least on the back of the model which was a bit of a mess and required a bit of cleaning. I'm sure the paint job can hide a lot of the problems here, but the back isn't anywhere near as pretty as the front. It's odd, because from literally every other angle the model is gorgeous IMO! It's a Metal Slug that plays murder-soccer, I was 100% sold the second I saw the render.

The other odd thing was that on the large bases the texture for the base looks kind of ill defined.  There are also a good amount of mold lines to clean up which I'll have to go back and do. It's not the end of the world and nothing I can't fix up with paint and basing materials, it's just a little disappointing.

On the plus side the guild comes with a tiny little tank-ball. ITS ADORABLE! 

Final thoughts

Based on a podcast interview with Double Dodge, CEO Matt Hart spoke about the problems they've been having with production and the desire to just hit a release date and knock a release out of the park, no delays.

On that front, they nailed it. While the captains did fluctuate in and out of stock, I was able to order both Yukai and the Miners guild on March 1st. It did take a week for SFG to get it out the door, shipped March 8th, but then the package made it from the UK to New Jersey by Tuesday, March 12th.  I understand I was in the second wave which is what caused my delay. If you had ordered as soon as the models went up on pre-order they were arriving very promptly. 

The cost on the captains isn't bad. $15 for a single blister is pretty much standard and I didn't think twice before ordering.  The Miners box was a bit more of a stretch. It was $80 for the resins plus terrain and (tank!) ball.  Given that the old 6 player guild boxes used to retail for $75 and were metal models, I have to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just do the Miners in metal if they had to meet production. 

So while they're able to hit the date, the models are in what feels to be a worse material than the PVC, require assembly, can feel flimsy, and are as expensive as metal without being metal. 

On the other side the model designs are great, the rules are nice, and the problems aren't anything an experienced modeler/painter can't solve.  If I had seen what I'd get before I ordered I'd still have bought them all over again, though it does feel a bit steep for what you're getting. In the end, I like the game and company enough that I was going to buy the models. 

I would definitely be hesitant to tell my newer to the hobby friends or less hobby inclined friends to order the Miners guild vs. any of the PVC boxes which are amazing in both value and quality in contrast.

In the end, I do hope SFG is able to sort out their production issues since I think their PVC products are excellent when it comes to minor or new guilds. 

Conversely, if this is how we get single blisters of new captains or models, I am 100% behind the approach if it's what allows the releases to work economically for SFG. Having seen/held Veteran Boar, the models is much more solid than Yukai, but it's also just a bigger model so it's easier to execute I suppose. 

Dearg Mor And The Black Bull

The old year was drawing to a close and Sir Gawaine was visiting Old Stones Keep, the holding of Sir Vincent and Lady Johanna.

The morning mists were just clearing and the common folk setting about their daily tasks when a horn sounded from a nearby wood. A lilting, almost insulting call, followed by a chorus of battle cries as Dearg Mor (Big Red), burst from the woods with a straggle of Picts at his heels.

To Arms! To Arms! The enemy is upon us!

"MY BULL!" bellowed Sir Vince, "He's after my Prize BULL!"  "TO HORSE!" "Gawaine, I beg of you to stay and guard the Lady Joan while I teach this barbarian a lesson". With that, the Lord of the Manor clattered down the stairs to arm for battle.

Some of the herdsmen in the field  drove the various groups of cattle back towards safety while others raced to head off the attackers and drive them back. Archers manned the tower and knocked their bows waiting for an enemy rash enough to come in range or try to storm the tower. The men in the village grabbed spear and shield and rushed to drive off the handful of raiders. 

Still partially covered by the morning mist, not to mention the arrival of Earl Helgin, the Picts drove off the Bull and  a few calves but the rest of the milch cows and Sir Vicent's  new Aurochs have already reached safety thanks to the speed and skill of the herdsmen. 

As the Picts rode off, Earl Helgin  with a band of Saxon raiders suddenly appeared and marched grimly towards the town. The herdsmen attempted a stand but were quickly scattered. They had bought time for the first of the tower garrison to arrive though.   After two attempts to storm the village and with the sound of galloping hooves heralding the approach of Sir Vincent, Helgin signalled a retreat. Sir Vincent had a beef (sic) with the Pictish Chief though and thundered past Helgin's shieldwall.

Twice Pict and Briton clashed and blood was spilled on both sides, but time had run out, the prize Bull was safely away. Sir Vincent called off the pursuit.

The Bull is driven off into the mist.
(Note to self: clean the lens...)

Enough blood had been spilt for one year and the news was not all bad. The value of the Aurochs and cattle that had been saved were as great as that of the Bull and cow that had been stolen. There would be time later for retribution.

_______________

Happy New Year to All!

Hope you'll come back in the year ahead!

Ep 24: The State Of The Podcast Is Live!

Ep 24: The State of the Podcast

https://soundcloud.com/user-989538417/episode-24-the-state-of-the-podcast

The Veteran Wargamer is brought to you by Kings Hobbies and Games

http://www.Kingshobbiesandgames.com

https://www.facebook.com/Special-Artizan-Service-Miniatures-1791793644366746/

Join the conversation at https://theveteranwargamer.blogspot.com, email theveteranwargamer@gmail.com, Twitter @veteranwargamer

Other companies we mentioned:

Meeples and Miniatures https://meeples.wordpress.com/

Wargaming Recon http://wargamingrecon.com/

Ludology/Game Tek http://www.ludology.libsyn.com/

The D6 Generation http://www.thed6generation.com/

Military Justice Podcast http://www.militaryjusticepodcast.com/

The Weirick - @podcastmj

Music courtesy bensound.com. Recorded with zencastr.com. Edited with Audacity. Make your town beautiful; get a haircut.

Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused product of 2020

Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.

An extremely productive year for Brave

Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.

Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.

The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.

Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:

"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"

Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.

Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now

If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.

The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.

AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.

For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.

Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.

Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser

Try Brave Browser

Get $5 in free BAT to donate to the websites of your choice.