This weekend I finally got a chance to run a game using my Awesome GM Box. I thought some of you might be interested to hear how it performed in the wild.

I was running my irregular Paranoia game. Something about being behind a large block of White made it feel all the better – more ominous.

Purely as a screen, it of course did the job. I really liked being able to write character names on the top of the box, corresponding to where the players were sitting. I liked it better than name tents, as those tend to get knocked about. I used Squares map as a chart to keep track of treason, commendations, fines and so on. The card slots were great for holding notes that had been passed to me (as folded cards, so they hung in plain sight). The Hex tokens were used a couple times for chairs and such, and I liked having the hex map out there for drawing quick rooms. All these things were really great.

However, I had to laugh when one of the first things I did was open up my stock Paranoia GM screen to look something up. I did this on more than one occasion. I also found that on the whole, I didn’t make much use of the whiteboard on my side of the screen, save for the Squares map. The glue I chose for the whiteboard wasn’t so hot, which made it a little frustrating in light of the fact that I was hardly using the whiteboard overall. And the strap harness I put together to carry the box feels a little unwieldy.

I think the box in the current form would work great to the side of the gaming table, as more of a supplies depot for handouts and such. I’m mulling over ways to revise the design to make this even better, but my gut feel is that I may want something smaller for the GM screen proper, using the bigger box to hold handouts, props, supplies and the like. Redesign stuff is brewing. I’ll let you know how this goes.

I am a terrible person.

Back in SEPTEMBER, I was contacted by someone who wanted to do an Instructable that expanded on the work I did for the ‘Duino Tag guns (originally as Paranoia props). He was seeking my blessing to proceed, which I gladly gave.

He posted the Instructable in NOVEMBER, and I am only just now getting around to linking to it.

I am a terrible person.

It’s a good read, and if you’re interested in taking your ‘Dunio Tag guns one step further, here’s a good place to start.

j44industries’ ‘Duino Tag Instructable

It was even picked up by Hack-A-Day – which made me green with envy (though that had nothing to do with the delay in getting these links in place. That was just me flaking out.)

I’m working to clear out laser cut goodies I made a long while back. I’ll be posting some things there over time, but for now there’s a few things to get started.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/aterribleidea

This is the first look at the project was code named “Obnoxious Howler Monkey” (though now that it’s done I will have to come up with a good name. If you’ve got one, comment below).

The Obnoxious Howler Monkey is basically a customizable soundboard built with the GM/DM in mind. It consists of several parts.

1 – A row of buttons to control play and playlist.
2 – A Vinculum VMUSIC2 module.
3 – An Arduino Microcontroller (See the back photos).
4 – A USB Flash Drive (visible in the front photos, decased).
5 – An external set of powered speakers

It looks like this from the front:

And this from the back:

Here’s how it works. You create 6 different folders on the flash drive according to mood. For example, the one in this example has the following playlists: Action, Angry, Happy, Misc, Sad, Silly. You put mp3s for the corresponding mood into each folder until you’ve got a good selection of music. Then you put the flash drive into the USB port on the front (this is the port to the VMUSIC2 module). You plug the external speakers into the headphone jack.

When you power up the Arduino, it tells the VMUSIC2 to start playing music out of the Misc folder. When you press the first button, the Arduino tells the VMUSIC2 to stop playing, switch to the Action folder, and start playing music from there. The buttons are in order (Action, Angry, Happy, Misc, Sad, Silly) and there is ample room to label each button to avoid confusion.

This first iteration of the device is designed to be built into a large piece I’m working on (Pandoran Apothecary Chest) but it could also be hastily slapped into a case and it would be ready to use.

There are a number of improvements I want to make. Significantly, right now it starts at the beginning of each playlist whenever it switches from one playlist to another. This means the same songs would get regularly played. Also, I have a lighted switch built into the device that currently doesn’t switch anything. It will ultimately be the power switch. I’d also like to add multi-button macros to do things like control volume, skip back, and so forth.

This project was a lot of fun to work on. I plan on putting together a project page once I feel like I’ve worked out the kinks and come up with a good name. Video of it in action follows.

I’ve had this idea for a bit, but tonight I finally decided to give it a try.

I think Twitter is a fairly odd beast.  I’ve seen some neat stuff, and some dumb stuff come through Twitter.  I don’t really use it, other than for fun things.

Like This. I couldn’t believe the name was available, but I’m glad to have it.  I’ve taken some of the code I wrote when I put together the E:Ching manual, combined it with a couple other things, and set up an automated Twitter feed through which Friend Computer can post helpful updates to all interested Citizens.

Following AlphaComplex On Twitter Is Mandatory

I wrote a series for IBM on putting together an Arduino-based Laser Tag game called ‘Duino Tag.  I held off on putting up any info here until the whole series was published. But now, all three parts are up.  You have to register at IBM developerWorks to read the whole series, but registration is free.

Part One – Gun Basics

Part Two – Firing The Gun

Part Three – Registering Hits

I also have basic parts kits available here if you want to take a crack at it.  You’ll need to provide your own Arduino and case, as well as some other minor bits (wire, battery, etc).

Here’s what the gun looks like that I built as a prototype:

This was a dream project for me.  If you read the articles, the rules of the game hinge around the idea that you get 6 shots before your gun may explode, and you can get hit 6 times before you’re officially out.

Sound familiar?  It should.  I built it with Paranoia in mind.

In Paranoia, you get 6 clones.  And you can fire a barrel 6 times before it starts to overhead, with potentially disastrous consequences.

I have always wanted tabletop prop guns for my Paranoia games.  These would be perfect for ZAP mode of play, when you roll for Hit Location nearly as often as you succeed in the mission.

I’m not quite there yet – I still need to work in removable barrels.  but with a Referee gun (described in the series) this could be what gets me one step closer to that Paranoia DARP I’ve been threatening…

I’m gradually putting a few things up on eBay for sale. More of the laser cut goodies I’ve been putting together. Like these:

Take A Look

I’ve been working on these a while. My prototypes just got here. Genuine Alpha Complex issued cards worth 10,000 Plasticreds! Be the envy of all your clone neighbors.

The small text is a little hard to make out, I’ll try to post higher res photos later. But for now, here are here are some more.

In addition to the project I can’t tell you about, there’s a new project I can’t tell you about yet.  It’s similar to the first project (which is still on, even though I can’t tell you more about it).  I should be able to tell you about this new project soon.  It also involves a gaming related electronic prop.

In addition to that project, there’s a third project I can’t tell you about yet.  This third project isn’t a prop, but it’s still useful and game related.  I should be able to tell you about them at the same time, which should be soon.

Also, there’s a project I can’t talk about that isn’t any of the previous three projects.  This one isn’t new, it came up a few months ago.  Even though I can’t tell you about it, I told a couple of you about it anyway.  Don’t say anything tho, because I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.  That project is sorta stalled, but isn’t dead or anything.  I am listing it here for the sake of completeness.

I should have an update to post on the second and third projects later this week.

I have a new prop project I can’t tell you about. I have been approached by someone with a request to put together an electronic, gaming related prop. I’m in the early stages, but I have some good designs down and some great ideas coming together.

I wish I could tell you more, but I cannot at this time. As soon as I can share more details I will.