February Wrap Up

02.26.2012

This past week has kept me busy, not on a single task but on multiple little tidbits here and there.

On the Zombie Mall front, I'm slowly moving ahead after backtracking 2 weeks ago. Now that I've decided on a modular-friendly board size, I went ahead and mapped out the first configuration of my little mall. I now have a floor plan that takes into account walkway space and I've picked store names so that I now what graphics to go out and steal liberate from the internet. The highlights are:

• 50"x50" footprint (which should fit on my 51½"x51½" table!)
• 20 named stores
  • 3 will be 5"x5"
  • 13 will be 5"x10"
  • 4 will be 10"10"

• One corner will be a food court with 12 locations to order!

I may still tweak some of the store names along the way, but I at least have a good variety fo store types. I'm also changing the DPI I'm printing things at. The floors will still be web-quality 72DPI, but I'm upping the walls to 300DPI as the test stores I made just look too fuzzy. The final part of the Zombie Mall Plan is that instead of making the graphics for a store, printing it out, then constructing it, I'm going to try and make ALL the graphics, THEN construct. Maybe that point I'll have a storage solution figured out.

I've also continued to make progress on Neal Stephenson's REAMDE. I'm within 200 pages of the end. While I enjoy the story and how the (current) 4 parties are related and semi-interacting, the author gets a little bogged down in environmental details. Almost reminds me of reading Dickens. I'm not sure if I ever made it all the way through a Dickens novel. Jerry has been holding off on any discussions about the novel (Stephenson, not Dickens) until I finish, so maybe we can have a conversation about it early in the week!

I've been ordering myself birthday loot over the past 2 weeks - mainly boardgaming related. Actually, I think it's all boardgame related. I've been putting boxes in the closet as they arrive, waiting until my birthday to open anything. I may start my birthday on the first (Thursday) instead of waiting until the actual day (Sunday). Come to think of it, I may need to just go ahead and take off work too. I like that idea!

Besides the birthday festivities I've self-planned in the upcoming week, Lord Ford has planned a Robo Rally Widgey Night at Stately Ford Manor on Wednesday. While that may mean I do not partake in the usual Wednesday Night Wings, I do enjoy some Robo Rally.

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Now for something a little non-gaming, non-hobby oriented.

02.19.2012

This has turned into my expensive month. This is thanks to finally replacing my 4-year old couch which was breaking in 2 places. The first place was a cushion that was my go-to spot for eating while watching TV. The cushions are attached to the frame, so there's no good way to re-stuff/replace springs without a professional couch fixer. The cushion has been messed up for the better part of a year and a half, but over the past 6 months it's been getting progressively worse. On top of that, the corner section of the sectional, my go-to spot for lounging, has 1 side with some cracked wood in the back. Between my propping and plopping, I could feel the back give a little more each time I sat down. I managed to find a good deal at my local furniture store on a replacement sectional, complete with reclining seats and build in cup-holders (which I swore I would never have either of). This couch is made by Franklin, who is supposed to be of higher quality than the Coaster brand couch I'm replacing. I'll see if I can get a decent picture of the new setup at some point.

Adding to my cash outflow for the month, I'm replacing the tires on the Explorer. The current set has 45,000 miles, which is 25,000 shy of what I eeked out of the tires on the last Explorer. I'm also taking this opportunity to switch from taking the car in to Norman Tire for maintenance to the local Big 10 Tires. Right off the bat the Big 10 tires were able to get me a set of tires for $200 less than Norman. Next will be to see if I can get in and out of Big 10 in under an hour like I could Norman. Monday I go to Big 10 to get the new tires - I've already prepped myself that this part will take more than an hour, but I've still got 600 pages of REAMDE to read, so I think I can occupy myself.

Since I like to spend money on something fun while buying the things I need, I'm ordering tidbits for my birthday early so they can get delivered by my birthday. Mostly I'm picking out boardgaming stuff, but since this post is supposed to be non-gaming, non-hobby oriented I'll omit all other details for now, with one exception to follow.

I've previously mentioned my inability to cut a straight line. In fact, I mentioned it last week and Dr. Blondie offered up that I should get a T-Square. I had looked at T-Squares at my local hobby and home renovation shops, but none had what I was looking for, which was mainly a metal right-angle which I could use as a guide to cut on the inside of the right angle. While talking to Dr. Blondie, I was reminded that I had never continued my search online. Why had I not done that? I search for everything online! With renewed vigor, I searched and searched and came across what I was looking for but had not known what it was called: the framing square/carpenters square/steel square! Thanks to a quick click at the Amazon, I will soon be testing out some new found straight cutting abilities.

That now concludes my random update.

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Mall Module -1

02.14.2012

Hobby prep this week felt like a step backwards as I didn't get around to making anything. Even worse, I've come to the conclusion that the 2 mall parts I've made over the last 2 weeks can't be used.

They can be used, but not used well. Although learning a lot in the world of paper craft by making my 5 mall stores, the 14"x11" foamboard I'm using is limiting. My goal is to make a modular mall, where the pieces will be mostly interchangeable. The problem I'm quickly seeing with the boards I'm using is that there's not a lot of options in spinning things around and having them still fit. So with that I'm taking a step back and re-evaluating how I want to construct things.

Like any good nerd, I dug out the graph paper and just started doodling. Although my goal is modular sections which can fit anywhere, I should start off with a floor plan to see how the initial layout of these modules will fit together. After a couple of hours, I decided on a 10"x10" base for each module, with no walkway attached. My table is 51½ inches square, so 10 inch bases will let me lay out 5 per side as an outer ring. To make the math easy, I'll start out with 5 inch wide walkways. This will allow my another 4 10" square bases in the center.

From here I looked and started playing with some of the layouts of what would actually go on a 10 inch square board. The default would be 2 10"x5" stores. Keeping this would make the corner bases inaccessible unless there were some extra doorways. Instead of extra doorways, I decided the corners first be specialty bases - security office, elevator, etc. - which may be laid out different. On top of that, I would cut the corner of one of the stores and make a "walkway corner" for entrance to the corner pieces. Although a specialty board, I would only need 4 for the 4 corners.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make a food court. I've got an idea for putting it in one of the corners, but I'm still thinking about that one.

I've also decided not to use the stores or floor that came with the Mayhem Mall. I need a mall floor that doesn't have a pattern to worry about matching up between sections, so I'm going to make a plain floor to use. I've also got a hefty list of stores to use that outnumber my available spaces, so I may as well stick to those. I'll still delve into the Mayhem Mall for props though, but props won't be added for a while.

All of this hinges on my ability to cut foamboard straight, both lengthwise and depth-wise. I showed Jerry a stack of not 5"x5" squares that I originally tried to cut. No 2 were the same size. Now, armed with a little more knowledge, patience, and a foamboard cutter I'm going to give it another shot. But not now, after all of this calculating and planning I'm going to try updating the graphics for the stores I've already made to match the new board size.

At that point I may bribe Jerry to cut the boards!

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Mall Module 2

02.05.2012

The best part about the second time you do something - you don't have to make the same mistakes again. My first venture last week into cardstock modelling went well, but I easily saw places where I could [quickly] improve. My second module for my 28MM mall would see how quick I could learn from those past mistakes.

I wanted to try a corner section so that was my focus for module 2. "Jewelry store" popped into my head when thinking about what stores are on the corner of malls. Although most corner jewelry stores have a freaky angle to cut the corner, I was going to keep it simple and just give the store extra entrances. I went to Google images and found a smattering of Kay Jewelers logos and some stock jewelry displays to use on the walls and I was ready to start texturing walls and floors.

Store #2, and there would only be 2 since the turn in the sidewalk was going to take up extra space, was going to be a home-made venture. At some point in the night I was thinking of Jerry's Cowboy Action Shooting Alter Ego, Bart Savagewoofer (not to be confused with Bloom County's Bart Savagwoofer). Bart needed a business. A western wear business. A store chock full of western goodness. This one was fun when I went to search for various textures.

In learning from past mistakes, I was ready to make some new ones. Primarily, I was going to be putting everything together in reverse order from what I had done last time. I was also skipping the blank grid as my template on the foamboard altogether. The reverse construction method made it moot.

The first thing I did was cut out and stick to the foamboard the mall walkway/sidewalk. With this down first I was hoping I could set the stores more flush against the walkway. Next, I started attaching the walls to Kay's, starting at the entrance and working my way around. When I was ready to complete the 4th corner, I instead attached all the walls to the floor (again, focusing on everything being flush) and then finished the last corner. I repeated this with Bart's and then stuck everything on the foamboard .

So far, 5 minutes after finishing up, everything looks a lot better. I still need to put exterior walls on 2 sides, but I've got to run and pick up more printer ink before printing out those walls.

Now I'm going to take a break from mall-making for a couple of days and get ready for the Formula D game coming up this week. I've got to go remember how to play that game....

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Mall Module 1

02.02.2012

I've been talking of making a mall gameboard for a few weeks (or has it been months). Today I finally got the 1st section finished. It still needs furniture, occupants, and bloodshed, but it's a start.

I was going to use the straight World Works Games Mayhem Mall, but once I started poking around the files I was a little disappointed that there were only 4 stores with interiors. I had dreams of grandeur with a fully accessable mall! After getting over my initial disappointment, I decided to use the Mayhem Mall as a template and to just make my own mall. There's plenty of graphics on the internet to steal from to make the mall I was thinking of!

So that's what I did. I went to the web and gathered up graphics for floors, walls, store signs, things to sell, etc. Then it was just a matter of pasting it all on top of the WWG correctly-sized walls and floors. Ok, it wasn't as straight forward as that, but who wants to get bogged down in details?

After weeks of surfing for graphics, hours of pasting and printing, and another hour or so of cutting and taping, I've got my first 3 stores. I kept Manuels from the Mayhem Mall set since I had been using that as my primary template. I added in a Lids hat store and a Spencers Gifts to round out the first 14"x11" piece of fiberboard that will serve as the basis for my modular mall. Next it's time to get to work on more modules. Modulars? Modules!

This is the first time I've delved into proper cardstock buildings. I've read tricks from various forums on how to make things look better. I obviously need to work on matching up corners and sides better, but I'm pleased with my first attempt. We'll see how module #2 compares once it's put together.

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