Heavy Rain review addendum

Little did I know as I wrote yesterday's review of Heavy Rain that both I and the missus were to finish our respective games during the evening, but let me tell you; it was certainly a singular experience. However, both our endings, and the way we got there, were different in big ways. First off, the missus actually lost the game, if you can use such a term when discussing this particular game, and I won it, even though you don't really win (nor do you lose). "What do you mean?" You may ask, and the question is fitting.

When thinking about video games we're accustomed to thinking in more or less black and white terms. You play, solving puzzles, quests, killing bad guys and saving maidens in distress, but if you run out of lives you're presented with the "Game over" screen. If, however, you manage not to spend all your player lives, and you manage to make it through to the ending and beat the game, you normally get some kind of end-game video sequence or something to that effect. Heavy Rain, however does not work that way.

While playing you get attached to your characters, you sympathize with them, and you want them to prevail. It may not happen right away, and you probably will not know when it has happened, but it will, and when it does you are emotionally invested in the game and your characters. You lead them on their way through the adventure to confront the darkest recesses of the human mind, and as you play on you begin to feel invincible because you're meant to survive and to succeed (and because some parts of the game are deceptively easy). After all, who would let the main characters in a psychological thriller die, let a killer go free and kill a ten year old boy?

Well, as the missus found out, it is possible to get your main characters killed - all of them, and if you do the resulting chain of events is such a heart wrenching affair that you will be devastated. She was saddened, angry, disappointed and surprised all at once, and she was, in fact, so affected by this outcome that she simply went to bed - leaving me to, with slight apprehension, play out my game. But was she presented with the ubiquitous "Game Over" screen? No she was not, because this is not that kind of game. Instead, we were forced to sit through a long end-game sequence in which the origami killer was never identified, in which all the main people were dead, in which an innocent man were given the blame for the murders, and in which the origami killer's latest victim died because no-one who could save him were left alive. We were both at the edge of our seats, and I think I saw tears form in the corners of the missus' eyes. Absolutely devastating.

At this point I guess you're wondering whether or not I am exaggerating for effect, but no I am not. The game really is that effective as long as you are capable of being emotionally tied to something, which most of us are, and it is that effective for a couple of reasons. First there is the obvious emotional connection you surprisingly quickly form with your characters. Secondly it is that effective because you are never given any second chances - what's done is done, and there's nothing you can do about it except start over from scratch. And third, there is the inherent sense of right and wrong that we all share. Killing people is wrong, most of us would agree with this, and thus most of us would agree that killing children is worse still.

We all want murderers to get caught and put to justice, and even though our opinion of what would constitute justice in any given situation might differ, we all share that one conviction; murderers must be held accountable for their crimes. When they are not we are reminded of the frailty of life and ordered society, we are reminded of the potential for evil in humans, and we are reminded of the all too real fact that many killers go free because there is simply not enough evidence to convict or apprehend them. These are all issues we are not used to being confronted with in games, and thus it is doubly effective in particular because you yourself have orchestrated the chain of events that led you to that particular conclusion.

So what about my game? Did I win?
Well, yes - and no. I think it is meaningless to talk about winning or loosing this game, because no matter what you do the game will eventually end. It may not end the way you want it to, or the end result may not be entirely to your liking, but you will get an ending. I won in the sense that I managed to save the origami killer's latest victim, and I managed to identify the killer - I think, but for many of the people involved in the story it was a hollow victory. The origami killer had still killed eight little boys, and so there were eight families who had closure, but their child was still gone. Obviously there is nothing that can be done to avoid this particular issue, but their sadness sticks with you - as does their relief and satisfaction at being given at least some justice for their children. So was it a happy ending? Well, as far as such things go in a story like this, yes it was.

However, I was still left with unanswered questions at the end of it all, and I am sure I will have to play through the game again, but differently, if I want to have them answered. There are many paths to take towards the ending, and as you play the story through different branches the story will unfold in different ways. I am sure I will do so, and I am sure the missus will also want to give it another go in order to get her own closure with the origami killer and provide justice for the parents of all his victims. For my part though, I noticed there is a DLC available that I will play through before giving the main game another go.

In closing I will say that I remain convinced that this game is a must-have for everyone who owns a PS3 - it truly is a remarkable experience.

Game review: Heavy Rain

I may be late in reviewing this game, but I've been late in buying and playing it as well (having six months old twins will cut into your gaming time). So, as I was finally able to pick it up and start playing it, and having read a good number of previous reviews, I had very high expectations for what is touted as an interactive drama more than a game.

While I bought the game primarily for the missus, I was the first that really got my teeth into it - playing a good few hours all in all while she slept or was otherwise engaged. However, now it is proving impossible for me to pry the controller away from her whenever the time for potential gaming arrives (mostly when the twins have been put to bed for the night). None of us have as of yet finished the game, and as it gobbles up time in a pacmanian fashion (I just invented a word) I suspect we still have many game hours to go. So these are my impressions of the game for those of you who, like me, are late to get into it.

It's 18 for a reason; this is a game dealing with mature issues.

As this game is driven by its story and the way you shape it, I cannot reveal much about how the story progress, and thus this review will be about impressions and experiences with the game. While the game installs you are treated to a neat little time-sink to while away the tedium of watching the install bar crawl from left to right. Being a full blown geek I have always loved these kinds of things, and it brought my mind back to the original Command & Conquer on the PC which, as far as I know, was the first game to do something similar. C&C provided you with information screens during the install which let you familiarize yourself with the background story and various units while awaiting the install to complete. Heavy Rain provides instructions for folding an included origami piece yourself, and if done correctly and quickly enough, you should be finished earlier than, or at the time the installation has completed.

As the game opens you are stuck in the role of Ethan Mars during a sunny day at his and his family's home in the sprawling suburbs. This is the prologue, and while it seems daunting and perhaps a little tedious at first to go through the motions of waking up and doing the various morning toiletries with appropriate motions and gestures with the controller, it serves to familiarize yourself with the interface as well as set the mood for the game. Some reviewers have complained about the inclusion of "shake controller to towel off after shower" sequences, and "shake controller to brush teeth" operations, but I thought they were more than appropriate. I will even go so far and argue that these sequences are necessary.

A brief moment of family bliss

The game is marketed as an interactive psychological drama, and as such the characters in it are the most important aspects of the story (obviously in addition to the story itself). And in order for the characters to be believable, they need to have realistic lives, and that is what the toweling off and shaving sequences do. They add to the immersion in the game, and they provide an effective illusion that these are real people, with real lives and real life problems and obligations that need to be handled. There's only one thing, which I still maintain, that is a small let-down; the voice acting. This game has taken a lot of time and money to develop, and it would definitely have benefited from hiring in some decent talent to do the voice-overs. This is, however a small niggle, and it is one that you'll be able to overlook as the game sinks it's teeth into you and pulls you in.

Playing the game involves makings gestures with, or hitting declared buttons on, the controller according to available options shown on the screen. Some items are interactive, and these show an action icon whenever you are in position to perform it, requiring you to make a gesture with the right stick. Others relate to the way your character respond in conversations or to his own thoughts, and others still are so called quick time events, or "press X right now in order not to die" events.

Normally I would state loudly that I thoroughly hate QTEs, and that I hate them with a passion, but not this time. In Heavy Rain they are necessary, and they are the driving forces of the game as you will only have a limited amount of time to contemplate your response to certain events, and only a split second to contemplate your response to others. The game, however does not care if you find yourself regretting your reflex reaction to an event - it just plows on mercilessly, giving you no chance to go back to try again. Both I and the missus ended up shooting an innocent man in a reflex reaction, and we both would have undone that action if we could have, but the world of the game did not care about our bout of remorse and simply drove the story on, leaving us to our self-inflicted psychological trauma.

This is another of the game's numerous strengths as it breaks new ground in storytelling within games - it gives you no direct control over when to save your progress. Instead, it function by a well-known principle of checkpoints. You play through a certain segment of the story, whereupon you are treated to a loading screen and the game has saved as the new chapter opens. In some games the "reach next checkpoint to save" rule is nothing short of aggravating, and something that has quite possibly kept many from finishing certain games, but in Heavy Rain it is highly effective as a tool both for telling the story as well as keeping you invested and immersed.

You have to open yourself up to the game and world within it, and if you do you will form emotional bonds with the characters that will in many ways leave you feeling as if it is the game that is pulling you along, rather than you driving the game towards the end. There are not many games that are able to incite such deep emotional responses from its players (the scene when Aeris dies in Final Fantasy VII comes to mind), but this is one of them. You want the characters to prevail, you want them to come out on top and you want only good things for them - in spite of all their all too human flaws. But alas, the world does not work that way. The world can be a dark and scary place, filled with danger and people with nefarious intentions that hide in the shadows just waiting to sink a blade into your chest for a pocketful of change. The game will remind you of these things, but it will also show you that there are good things to be had in the world, that in spite of all the misery the sun still shines behind the clouds.

Playing the game you will alternate by playing it through four different people, who all have different stories to tell and different motivations, and whose lives will, or may, intersect. For instance, in my game I had two of the different characters meet briefly in a situation brought on by the main story, whereas in the missus' game this didn't happen because she had reacted differently to a certain earlier problem. These variations both gives the game replayability, as well as lending it a level of open-endedness in that you as a player can directly influence how the story progresses and how it will end. The main story behind always stays the same, but the way you navigate through it will be shaped by your actions and your inactions.

So what is the story in the game? Well, the characters all live in an un-named city that is being terrorized by a particularly clever serial killer dubbed "The Origami Killer". I can not say much more about this without revealing too much of the plot, so I think I will leave it at that. As the game deals with some very mature issues, there are instances of nudity and very coarse language, and as such, this is not a game for children. It requires a mature mind to fully grasp the story and the implications of that story on the simulated people within, thus this is one instance where the age rating on the box is appropriate.

People tend to be naked when taking showers.

However, the way the game deals with these issues and presents them, come about in a natural way. For example, people are usually naked when taking showers, and as such they are naked when showering in the game. Even the missus, who is usually the first to frown upon the use of gratuitous nudity in movies and games, found the inclusion here to be appropriate and natural. There is, for instance, one scene in which a female character takes a shower displaying a set of high-resolution boobs, but it doesn't feel weird or out of place as many people would probably want a shower in that very same situation. And then there is the language; people swear, it's as simple as that. Swearing is as much a part of everyday language as the words "dinner" and "mail", and again it is used in appropriate ways. It never feels contrived or tacked on for the sake of it.

In addition to all this, the game further adds to the characters by introducing such all too real issues as chronic insomnia, anxiety, substance abuse, domestic abuse and prostitution. By painting the player characters as normal, flawed human beings you will sympathize with them - you believe in the characters and their motivations because you either have first hand experience with the same issues, or because you understand them well enough to be able to identify with them. These are not the invincible action heroes we are used to seeing in games; these are people that could be your neighbours or your co-workers.

Anxiously I await my next chance to play further, and reluctantly I put down the controller as real life obligations claim my attention. It is a truly remarkable game that is, I will dare to say, the first of its kind, and one that belongs in the collection of anyone who owns a Playstation 3. And if you have not yet purchased a PS3, this is the excuse you have been waiting for. It is an emotional roller-coaster ride that will surprise, frustrate and sadden you.

How far would you go to save someone you love?

Creationists and evolution

Today I got in to the office at my regular time. I made myself a cup of coffee, and then I quickly browsed some news pages and various message boards as I usually do before getting started on the daily grind. Among the sites I visit regularly is FSTDT in order to get my daily fix of fundamentalist misanthropy and crazyness, and that's when I stumbled upon a particularly ignorant and misconceived notion of evolution.

It's no secret that creationists and fundamentalists tend to turn a blind eye to the progresses made in various scienific disciplines over the past 500 years or so, and in particular those made in evolutionary biology. I am, in other words, quite used to reading horribly uninformed and wrongful ideas of what evolution is, but I will never get used to the fact that these people seem to revel in being willfully ignorant. There really is no excuse in this day and age where pretty much every conceivable bit of information pertaining to the accumulated knowledge of mankind is available to everyone at the press of a button.

There are many aspects of the theory of evolution that these people seem to not want to understand, and among these is the concept of transitional species - species in between fish and land dwelling animals for instance. These people seem to expect that the way evolution works is by having a duck laying eggs from which a dog hatches, and no matter how many times they're told that evolution does not work that way they just seem incapable of taking it in.

And that brings us to today and my findings during my morning's routine browsings.

Here's an illustration I found on the Missing Universe Museum website:

They are using the sequence of images to illustrate their idea of how evolution works in order to show how a horse should evolve flight. However, in doing so they're also ignoring the fact that 1) evolution does not work that way, 2) flying mammals have four limbs, not six, 3) a horse would never evolve flight due to weight vs. muscle capacity, 4) aerodynamics doesn't allow for it, and 5) wings wouldn't be a survival trait for a horse. They also don't seem to understand (or don't want to understand) the fact that a winged horse (a Pegasus) would effectively disprove evolution.

1. Evolution doesn't work that way.

No, it really doesn't. Evolution works through natural selection by breeding. Throughout the history of life on our planet it has been the females of the species who has effectively been deciding upon the route evolution would take. If, in some animal society, the favored trait was flamboyant plumage, the more garish the better, then the male animals with the most garish and flamboyant plumage would get to breed with the most females, thus making it an evolutionary trait to have flamboyant plumages and the ones who didn't would get weeded out (look at peacocks).

2. Flying mammals have four limbs, not six.

You need only google flying mammals to see that this is true. Bats, for instance (they are mammals, and not birds as stated in the bible, by the way) fly by the aid of webbed wings that has been stretched between the elongated fingers on their forelimbs. This makes them te only mammals capable of sustained flight, rather than other flying mammals such as flying squirrels who glide rather than fly.

3. Weight vs. muscle capacity.

Birds have evolved for flight through shedding weight and the favorisation of feathers. Their bones are hollow and filled with ar, they have no teeth and their bodies have evolved into highly aerodynamic shapes. The earliest known bird under modern definition is the Archaeopteryx from the late jurassic period (150 - 145 million years ago) which marks a definite step from land dwelling theropod dinosaurs to what we today know as modern avians. Sustained flight takes an enormous amount of muscle energy, and the larger the animal the more muscle vs. weight will be needed. But also aerodynamics play a part in determining the maximum size and weight of any flying animal, which is of course another reason why birds have evolved the way they have (beaks, feathers, low weight, hollow bones and so on). The Condor and the Wandering Albatross are the largest flying animals in the world today. But the largest flying animals in the fossil record are the pterosaurs Quetzalcoatlus and the Hatzegopteryx both with wingspans of 12m or more, making them the size of a small bus. However, these pterosaurs had evolved into highly secialized creatures to be capable of flight, such as, again, hollow air filled bones, elongated snouts for aerodynamics and so on. Horses, on the other hand, are heavy animals with more or less solid bones and are not particularly aerodynamic.

4. Aerodynamics.

Look to point 3.

5. Wings would not be a survival trait for horses.

How does evolution work? It works through the means of natural selection. Natural variation occurs among the individuals of any population of organisms. Many of these differences do not affect survival (such as differences in eye color in humans), but some differences may improve the chances of survival of a particular individual. A rabbit that runs faster than others may be more likely to escape from predators, and algae that are more efficient at extracting energy from sunlight will grow faster. Individuals that have better odds for survival also have better odds for reproduction. Horses do not need flight to escape predators; they have evolved highly effective fight or flight responses as well as high speed and endurance in running across solid ground, making the fastest runners the most likely to proliferate. Thus, the ability to run fast and long is a favored trait in horses, and those that are capable of this will have a greater chance of breeding.

Transitional species.

Creationists seem to always misunderstand the concept of transitional species, often referring to them as "missing links" - which, by the way, is a nonsensical term. They don't understand the fact that evolution is a relentless ongoing process that never rests, never stops and never has any concideration for anything or anyone. Evolution is not a conscious process, and it has no will on it's own. Evolution just is, and every species to ever have existed were, and are, transitional species.

Pet peeves and aggravations

There are certain things in human society and in everyday life that strike deeper and more noticeable than others. While I am able to maintain my composure and "keep cool" when faced with some of them, there are, however, others that grind at my bones! I am talking about those small things that each and every one of us get worked up or annoyed at, like leaving the toilet seat up, forgetting to put the cap back on the tube of toothpaste or some such inanity. We all have them, and I think we all will agree that some are worse than others - at least to the person affected by them.

I am no different; I have several. So, as an example I can tell you that I like symmetry. I appreciate, for instance, having the various glasses in our cupboards lined up and sorted according to type, shape and size. It does not only look better in my opinion, it's also more practical to keep the same kinds of glasses grouped together. However, if I find that a glass is misplaced, or the lines are messed up I am able to deal with it rationally and calmly, and then I will sort it out. But I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me, it's just that I am able to handle that particular grievance. And of course, that's how it should be. It doesn't do to fly off the handle at every minor annoyance or niggle, no, we rise above them in a magnanimous way.

However, there are a couple of other ... annoyances ... that I simply am just about unable to deal with, and which has me grinding my teeth in discomfort and revulsion. I am referring to people who talk with food in their mouths, and people who chew with their mouths open - or worst of all; people who talk while chewing food at the same time. There is absolutely no conceivable situation in which this is acceptable, and personally I find it to be nothing short of revolting.

There is this one guy at work, for instance, who has a tendency to do this - loudly and without inhibition, and particularly whilst standing behind me in my office. He will barge in with a sandwich in one hand and chewing with his mouth open whilst at the same time talking unabashedly at me, spraying saliva and bits of food that invariably escape this person's considerable gravitational field and the pit that is this man's mouth. And there I'm sitting, trapped by the bulk and shade of what is definitely neither a moon nor a space station, but a man whose bombastic demeanor and repulsive eating habits has repeatedly had me on the verge of projectile vomiting. No, by the way, I am not exaggerating.

How is it that some people find this kind of disgusting behaviour to be acceptable? Or is it just me? Do you think I'm overly sensitive, or that my expectations of certain standards of class from my fellow human beings are unrealistic?


Footnote of completely unrelated origin: I also collect words. The word of the day is: Pandiculation - the act of stretching oneself.

Charlatans and hustlers

I was just made aware of the fact that the self-proclaimed psychic and healer Lisa Williams is coming to Norway, and I find I'm getting aggravated at the very prospect of it. My problem, however, is not with Lisa Williams per se, but with any and all people that make a living by exploiting and hustling the gullible and the naive. No "psychic" has ever been able to replicate his/her abilities in rigid scientific studies, and most will never attend such studies obviously because they know the results would be negative. There is no way to quantify or measure "psychic ability", but neither is there any proof at all that such abilities exist.

Any and all "psychics" with their own TV-shows, book deals, performance tours and such are in it for one thing, and one thing only: money. To be able to do what they do they employ and perfect various techniques for various settings, and I will talk about the most common.

Cold Reading.
From Wikipedia: "Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, illusionists, fortune tellers, psychics, mediums and con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do."

An experienced cold reader is quickly able to deduce many things about a suject simply by observing the subject's facial expressions, hairstyle, style of clothing, jewelry and so on. The cold reader is forcing - or coercing - the subject to cooperate, and blatantly guessing with various questions of high-probability.

Example:

Reader: "Did your husband linger on in the hospital, or did he pass quickly?"

Subject: "Oh, he died almost immediately!"

Reader: "Yes, because he's saying to me, `I didn't suffer. I was spared any pain.'"

In the above example the reader is coercing the subject to believe that the reader knows something he/she didn't. The information was supplied by the subject to be verified by the reader. Why should the reader, for instance, have to aske the question he/she did in the above example?

And that's what cold reading is. The medium is throwing out suggestions and guesses while expecting (and usually getting) feedback from their subjects. "I get an older man here" is a question, a suggestion, and a guess by the "reader" who expects some reaction from the subject. And while the reaction may be very subtle, the reader has trained himself/herself to pick up even the most unnoticeable of changes in facial expressions. The reaction might just be a nod, or a subtle change in the subject's expression or body language (or the occasional gasp), but the affirmation is supplied by the subject, and not by the reader.

Then the reader might start throwing names out into the audience. "They're saying, John, or Johnny. Do you know this man?" is another wild guess, a question and a suggestion. If there was a John or Johnny the subject will affirm and strengthen the identification, but if there is none the reader will move on whilst brushing it off saying that John or Johnny is there, but was not immediately recognized. If, however, Johnny is remembered later, that will be integrated into the farce.

From James Randi Educational Foundation: "You should observe and listen to a video of a reading. In one such by Van Praagh, prepared by the "48 Hours" TV program, a reading that lasted 60 minutes, we found only TWO actual statements made, and 260 questions asked. Both actual statements--guesses--were wrong. Van Praagh was looking for the name of the woman's deceased husband, and he came up with it by asking, "Do you know anyone named, Jack?" The woman answered, "Yes! Jack, my husband!" But Van Praagh didn't identify "Jack" at all. He asked her if SHE would identify him. By that time, Van Praagh had already tried on her 26 other men's names--all wrong. But, the woman--the subject--forgot about those failures, because they were not important to her. "Jack" was important."

Unfortunately I couldn't find that exact video easily available online, but here is another one showing van Praagh failing during a cold-reading session: van Praagh.

Every psychic, medium or stage clairvoyant (Lisa Williams included) has been using the same set of techniques since time immemorial, and since time immemorial their audience has allowed themselves to be deceived in spite of the fact that common sense should tell them not to. Personally I don't understand why. Why this urge or interest in talking to dead relatives?

Now there are probably some that would argue that some people are just seeking some kind of closure after having their spouse unexpectedly and suddenly die, and that their closure is more important than the methods of achieving it. That makes it even worse. Then the so-called medium, or psychic, is not only preying on the gullible, but they're also exploiting someone else's pain and loss for their own gain. Make no mistake; the ones that make it to the big time with their own TV-shows, performance tours and books deals make millions this way.

So now you probably ask why I am so upset about what other people believe. It's their beliefs and I should just respect them right? Wrong. I see no reason why I should respect and condone a set of beliefs that allow some people to prey on the less fortunate, the emotionally scarred or the gullible in order to line their own pockets. I am a fervent supporter of rationality and logic and what constitutes provable reality, and as such I can not, and will not, respect a system of belief that relies on willful and blatant deception in order to be maintained.

The Ultimate Machine - part 6 - Completion

Yesterday I finally completed my Ultimate Machine Mk.I.
Following part 5 there really weren't much left to sort out, but the last finishing touches were required. Today I present to you the final pictures of this build, and at long last a video of the machine in action.

As I left you from part 5 I had a couple of things left to do: staining the arm and the hold-down blocks and modifying the switch. Also, as it turned out, I had to modify the forward lid as well as the force from the arm retracting had the lid pop open. This simply would not do, and so I solved the problem by embedding a couple of neodymium magnets into the frame and the bottom of the lid, very effectively securing the lid while allowing it to be opened if needed.

As you can see I also had to modify the arm slightly because occasionally the arm would stop before completing it's cycle, thus locking the machine. I got around this problem by extending the arm with a small piece of wood (which now also needs to be stained obviously).

The simple, yet in my opinion quite effective, modification I made to the switch involved a couple of short lengths of brass tubing. I used a 3mm brass tube inserted into a 4mm brass tube, superglued them together and filed the top round before gluing them to the switch handle. The result is a lengthened handle, and a better looking switch.

So, Mk.I of my Ultimate Machine is done. The design is not perfect, but for some reason I find the semi-scruffy appearance quite suitable. However, when I build the next one I will refine the design a bit as Mk.II I intend to build to keep at my office - and I think Claude Shannon would approve.

There you have it, the machine is completed and functional. And as promised, here is the video of it in action (I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed building it):

The Ultimate Machine - part 5

The machine is now almost done, and while I have had some good advice given to me for improvements in the finish of the box, I am quite happy with it so far. I might take the advice to heart though, and attempt to improve on the finish provided I have time to do so, and if it is not too late. It will, after all, necessitate smoothing out the edges with spackle, sanding it down smooth, an re-staining and lacquering the edges. Hopefully this is possible to do with the machine in its present condition, but if not I'll just make a mental note of remembering to do so for the next machine I build.

So, the machine has been fully assembled and only a few last tweaks and finishing touches remain to be done. I can gleefully report that the machine works flawlessly, though I will need to modify the switch somewhat in order for the servo to be able to flip it. As you remember from my last post my suppliers sent me the wrong kind of DPDT switches (on-off-on instead of on-on), and so I had to run with it and hope for the best. Well, it turns out that using the DPDT on-off-on switches is possible, and it will work, but the toggle function is a little too stiff for the servo to accomplish. Therefore I will modify the switch with a length of brass tubing for added leverage, and this will also have the effect of tying the looks of the switch in a little more with the looks of the rest of the box. Hopefully I'll get this done tonight, but that depends on whether or not the stain on the arm and two hold-down blocks has dried out sufficiently by the time I get home from work.

Here is today's round of pictures.

The switch has now been mounted roughly 2.5cm from the edge of the lid, and while the switch unmodified is too stiff for the arm to flip, it works flawlessly when the switch is aided with improved leverage. Oh, and by the way, I simply could not be bothered to remove the date-stamp from the pictures, and now that I notice it I am unable to as I'm posting this from work and I have yet to get Photoshop reinstalled.

  

 

This next pic shows an internal view. Here you can see the arm mounted to the forward lid, and you can see the hold-down block for the microswitch mounted to the bottom. If you squint a little you can just about make out the microswitch being held down by the arm, and underneatht the forward lid you can see the front edge of the servo. 

Here's a shot of the same view but from a different angle. I'm showing the controller board along with the battery pack and the various cables being plugged into the board. Also you can see the business end of the arm peeking out from under the closed lid.

Next I'll flip the forward lid, and you'll see how the servo and the arm is mounted. You can also see the hole I routed out for the switch if you follow the leads. By the way, the leads I've used were originally intended to be used in a project to build my own computer case (I will complete this project as well of course, but for now it's in hiatus), and the ones that are pink were supposed to be red. I think the pink colour is due to these cables being fluorescent, but I still feel they should look a good deal more red than they do.

The servo is held in place by being screwed to a small wooden block screwed tightly to the lid. I tried glueing the block down first, but that didn't take all that well, so in the end I just screwed it down tightly.

Finally here's a full shot of the internals exposed. Not much in the box really, but much of this space is taken by the motion of the arm. This post is made the day following these events, and after these shots were taken I stained the arm and the hold-down blocks. Hopefully these will have dried out by the time I get home so that I may lay down the last few finishing touches such as making the final modifications to the switch. Must remember to go out during lunch to get 3 and 4mm brass tubing.

The next time I post the machine will be done, and I will have a video of the machine in action to show you. Trust me when I say that it's hilarious, and that during beta testing yesterday, I couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably.

The Ultimate Machine - part 4

Still feeling peeved at being sent the wrong components, I started soldering the circuit board for the machine. This was refreshing and pleasant work which, accompanied by a couple of glasses of red wine, was highly satisfying. The chance to wield my soldering iron again felt quite exhilarating.

The circuit consists of:

• 1 220k resistor
• 1 27k resistor
• 1 15k resistor
• 1 1N4148 diode
• 1 0.1uf capacitor
• 1 NE555P timer chip
• 1 4xAA battery holder
• 1 Futaba 4.2kg servo
• 1 DPDT on-on switch (current setup uses an on-off-on switch)
• 1 microswitch
• 8 three pin connectors (four he, four she)
• A few feet of wire - red, yellow, black and blue
• 1 project board

And after putting it all together, this is the result:

Now all that remains is mounting the board in the box, fitting the servo and the switches and fabricating and fitting the arm. With a little luck I just might get it finished this weekend, but as the arm will have to be stained the drying time might make this impossible. Also, as I am using an on-off-on switch instead of an on-on switch, the result might not be practical. I have registered an order for a couple of replacement on-on switches, and these will hopefully be delivered during next week. So, if my vain hope of making it work with an inappropriate switch fails, there are replacements coming. I aim to have it completed by next weekend.

Rage II - Ultimate Machine Part 3.5

Yesterday I finally received my order from my electronics supplier of choice, and excitedly I went about building the circuit board for my Ultimate Machine - relishing the chance of wielding my soldering iron once again.

I set up the board nice and tidy using three-pin connectors for the switches, power source and servo output, organizing all components logically and neatly across a small board - for practicality as well as for show.

The first thing I noticed was that the electronics suppliers had sent me the wrong diodes, but that was no biggie as I could use the ones they sent me, though it was annoying. Then, after soldering the whole thing together, measuring across the circuit and attempting to start it up for the first time, nothing happened. The circuit is powered, and all looks good, but for some reason the servo doesn't get signals.

Eventually I had to call it a night, and thus I promised myself to sort it out this weekend. Today, as I arrived at the office, I had a thought: yesterday the DPDT switches they had sent me made something in me twitch, but I did not quite react to it. Today however, I suddenly realised that the switches they had sent me are also wrong. I ordered DPDT on-on switches, but they sent me DPDT on-off-on switches - not nearly the same, and very aggravating.

However, I should be able to test the circuit with the wrong switches, but I immediately registered an order for two new DPDT on-on switches on their webshop, and then I sent a copy of the order confirmation to their sales office to make sure they get it sorted.

So let's sum it up:

1. Electronics supplier misplaces my order, making the components over 1 month delayed
2. Electronics supplier sends me the order, but asks for payment for the second time
3. Electronics supplier sends me wrong diodes and wrong switches

The problem is that if I want electronics over here, I will have to use this company as they are the ones most likely to stock what you need.

Rage!

So I contacted the company that I had ordered my precious NE555P timer chips (and various other bits and bobs such as highly important DPDT switches) from, and I asked them when I could expect my order to be delivered. I felt it had taken too long to get it shipped to me, and as such they should explain themselves. I'll let you know how this conversation went.

Me: "Hello, yes, I'm calling regarding order number xxxxxxx which I have been expecting for quite some time. The order was placed about a month ago, so now I'm wondering when I might expect to get it."

Person on the other end: "Hang on one second and I'll check it." *sounds of typing*

Person on the other end: "I can't seem to find an order by that number, are you sure you got it registered?"

Me: "Yes I'm sure. I've got the confirmation e-mail from your website right here."

Person on the other end: *sounds of typing* "Could you e-mail me a copy of your receipt?"

Me: "Sure. What address do I use?" *after being given address, mail is sent*

Person on the other end: *sounds of mouse clicks and typing* "I'm sorry. We seem to have misplaced your order, but I promise we'll get it shipped out to you today. How would you like to pay?"

Me: *getting annoyed* "I've already paid for it ... it says so right there on the receipt."

Person on the other end: "Oh so I see. Well then, we'll get it shipped today, and you should have it no later than tuesday of next week."

Me: "That's a little late as I needed my components in order to complete a project by tuesday next week. Can you not ship it to me by express?"

Person on the other end: "I'm sorry, but we don't do that."

Me: "No? But misplacing orders is okay?"

Person on the other end: "Of course not, but even so; there's no express delivery service from our company."

Sensing that the conversation could only deteriorate from there I bid him farewell, donned my coat and went downtown in search of a DPDT switch.

The Ultimate Machine - part 3

The external staining is done, the lacquer has dried and the box is ready to be reassembled. I'm still a little peeved that I decided to take the box apart for staining, rather than doing it while assembled because I did not want to risk discolouring the screws. But regardless, the parts look gorgeous now, though a little distorted from the staining process - it's not much, but enough to set the edges off ever so slightly.

After the lacquer had dried I looked over the parts, and determined that they were ready for reassembly yesterday night. Gleefully I put the various parts back together, and watched as the box grew back into shape. I think (and hope) you all will agree that whilst it is not perfectly aligned, or perfectly even, it does look very good. Unfortunately I don't have the proper means to take photographs that do justice to the wonderful richness of the dark cherry combined with the high gloss lacquer, but at least you get an idea from these shots.

The box is reassembled, and you can just about make out the shine and reflections from the sides. I hope I can set up a proper (albeit temporary) photography "booth" somewhere in the house for when the machine is completed and take some final shots for you, but for now these will have to do.

Here you can see how the staining has thrown off the lid by just a mm or two, not a lot, but enough to leave something of a gap. It's really not a big deal, and we'll see when the electronics and mechanics are in place, if I may decide to put a brass strip over the gap - or something like that.

The insides has not yet been stained, but I am planning to do it for consistency, however, I will not lacquer the insides.

And here's a final shot of the finished box with the plaque nailed to the lid. Was I right or what? The brass looks gorgeous against the dark cherry stained and lacquered wood.

This was all I had for this update, but I'll see you again in part 4 quite soon. I'm just awaiting the delivery of the ever important timing chips, and hopefully it'll arrive today or tomorrow. Well, it'll have to arrive by saturday because this is intended to be a birthday present, and as such it must be completed by next tuesday.

The Ultimate Machine - part 2

The weather was good on sunday as well, so I was able to make the lid and complete the box. After planing the lid, and all edges once more with 180 grit followed by a quick planing with 240 grit, I took the box apart and stained it. In retrospect I learned that I shouldn't have taken it apart for this because the staining process distorted the wood just enough to throw it slightly off at the edges. This can't be helped though, and it doesn't really have to be perfect - this is the prototype after all, and I am planning to build at least one more.

I chose an aptly named oil-based colour, "dark cherry", and in my opinion it's a gorgeous stain that really brings the wood to a different level. I have not applied it evenly, but that was not my intention anyway as I was hoping for a sort of weathered antique look, and we shall see if I succeeded in this after applying the lacquer.

Additionally I was able to make the plaque for the lid. This was my first attempt at engraving, and I did it freehand using my trusty old Dremel. In my opinion it came out rather well, and again; it doesn't have to be perfect. The plaque was cut from a sheet of 0.5mm brass, and it looks gorgeous against the dark cherry wood.

As the stain had dried out sufficiently by yesterday evening, I was able to find the time to apply the lacquer. I chose an oil-based high-gloss lacquer for wood, and spread it out nice and even with a soft brush. Hopefully this will dry out evenly and leave a slick and shiny surface, however, I am prepared to polish the pieces if necessary. So as you can imagine, I am terribly excited to come home from work this afternoon to check it out. Expect sexy images of the freshly stained reassembled box with a high gloss surface coating.

See you in part 3.

The Ultimate Machine - Part 1

Work has finally begun on my take on the legacy of Claude Shannon and his Ultimate Machine.

Fortune favored us today with nice and warm weather allowing for work to be done outside, and the twins were at their best behaviour thus providing ample oportunity and time for me to begin this project. For the time being I'm having to do this kind of work outside because my workshop is not yet finished (that's yet another project begging to be begun and completed), and though I will be doing the electronics indoors, woodwork is inherently messy which necessitates doing it outside.

Anyway, I began by collecting a previously purchased plate of wood intented to be used as shelving, and started marking out the various pieces. The wood I'm using is 16mm solid pine, though initially I planned on making it out of oak. However, as I was planning to stain the wood anyway, I opted for something less flamboyant.

I love tools. Hence I use any and all chances and oportunities to acquire new ones. So, as I'm also a big fan of machines, I first opted for cutting the various pieces using my jigsaw. This didn't turn out too well. For some reason the blade kept bending, and as a result every cut I made got slanted. Therefore I've made the mental note of getting a circular saw as soon as oportunity allows for it. In the end I went for a more analogue approach and cut the parts manually using a regular hand-operated saw. This worked wonders. All edges needed planing afterwards, but that would be necessary regardless of how I got them cut.

Unfortunately I didn't remember to collect my camera for the process of cutting the pieces, but at this stage of the build I am drilling holes for the screws and the wood nut inserts.

During this process a couple of other bits went onto my mental shopping list as well. I currently own no countersinking drill bits, so I had to make countersunk screw holes using a slightly large drillbit to countersink the screw heads, and then a narrower drill bit for the actual screw. It worked out beautifully, but it was an arduous process in which I had to drill at very small increments constantly checking the depth of the countersink hole, before changing bits to do the screw holes. I also broke one of my vice grips, so new ones are needed.

After having drilled the holes through the walls of the box and into the bottom plate, I screwed in some wood nut inserts for M4 machine screws. I have selected some very attractive M4 hex-head stainless steel screws. My design would work even better with brass screws, but I have so far been unable to find M4 hex-head brass screws, so stainless will have to do.

And here is the finished wall screwed to the bottom plate. The screw heads are nicely flush with the wood, and they are very solidly locked together. I think the screws, even though they are not brass, will stand out quite nicely against the wood after it has been stained.

A couple of hours of doing this to all the sides, and the result is a wodden box, though still missing the all-important lid. Unfortunately I did not have time to finish the lid as well today, so I hope to be able to do it tomorrow. The lid is the most important part, and will have to fit precisely - It will also need to be split along the middle.

The box was still a little rough though, so I rummaged around in my would-be workshop to dig out my electric planer and some 180 grit sandpaper. Here is the final result after planing. All sides are now nicely flush, and their surfaces are very smooth. Maybe I will make another couple of passes with the planer using a finer grit paper, or maybe I will simply polish it after staining and the mandatory couple of coats of lacquer. We'll see.

This is as far as I got today, but quite soon the box will be finished and ready for staining. Soon I am ready to start work on the electronics, but as I am still awaiting delivery of the all-important NE555P timer chip, I am, until it arrives, focusing my attention on the box. Tomorrow I plan, and hope, to do the lid and hopefully the staining.

Until next time I hope I have piqued your interest. See you in part 2.

A stroke of genius

I thought I had finished writing mini reviews of flash games for the time being, but that was until I stumbled across one that is truly brilliant, and truly different. It requires logical thinking on a different level than all other puzzle flash games I've come across so far, and the puzzle complexity has nice incremental steps to them.

The game is called "The Codex of Alchemical Engineering" and it's a work of art.

You play as an alchemist having to distill, synthesize and blend various compounds by the aid of robotic arms and various alchemical glyphs. The game screen makes out your alchemical workbench, and this is where all the action takes place. There's no tutorial, and no real aid of any kind, but reading the "help" pages tells you all you need to know.

As always, the first compound (or puzzle if you like) is the easiest one. You've just got to move five atoms (the game is so good that you just don't care that water is not made up of a single atom, but rather a molecule of Hydrogen and Oxygen) of water from the water source, to the large recepticle glyph in the upper area of the screen. To do this, we must select a "manipulator arm", place it on the screen and program it to move water units from one place to the other.

Programming the robotic manipulator arm is simply done by dragging and dropping the symbols on the left into the dark grey "rod" also on the left. Hovering your cursor over each symbol gives you a short text describing what each symbol (or command) does, and from there it's up to you to put these in the correct order. Trust me when I say that when you get to the stage where you have four or more manipulator arms on the screen at the same time, choreographing their movements become tricky. However, that's not to say you necessarily need four arms to do the job - setting the whole thing up for efficiency, and streamlining your production lines for as few cycles as possible is part of the fun. After setting up your program, or whenever you're happy with your program, and feel ready to give it a go, simply click "run" to see how it behaves.

I know this setup of five robotic arms and two glyphs of binding is not the most efficient, however, I am a person who relish in the chance of making something unnecessarily complex and getting it to work that way. Tweaking the programs for the setup shown above took some time and a a little effort, but in the end all the components worked together in a beautifully choreographed dance of mechanical splendour. And as a person who comes just short of being brought to tears by watching the automated production lines at car factories dance their carefully choreographed mechanical ballet, I find this highly satisfying, and this is only level 4.

Anyone with the patience and the resolve necessary to figure out the first two levels will then undoubtedly get hooked. That's a promise. And while I paint a somewhat glum picture of complexity, programming and mechanical dance numbers, the game isn't all that hard. You just have to see the logic in the various components, how they all work together, and then find a way of devicing a sequence of events to distill the required end product in order to make it to the next level. Besides, since when has challenging one's mental faculties been a bad thing?

It's a truly great game, a masterpiece of online flash games.

And this is not just because it appeals to me because I personally love constructing machines in the most difficult and complex way possible, but also because it is different. It stands out from a crowd of what has become a a plethora of available online flash games, most of which are of questionable quality. This one, however, is a stroke of genius.

Procrastination

Online Flash games are, by their very nature, designed for procrastination, and for casual gaming/gamers. And as an avid gamer I enjoy both the quick romp of an online flash game, just as I enjoy the depth of the full-size large installations such as Mass Effect 2. However, for a bout of procrastination (say at the office, school or any other such venue where you find yourself with a computer, an internet connection and boredom begging for some procrastination, you really can't beat a good flash game.

So, there are numerous sites dedicated to flash games, and I'm going to talk about one of them and point out a couple of brain teasers which I find entertaining to help you sort through the chaff. Because, as with large games, movies or pretty much any form of entertainment, there are bad ones as well as good ones, and there are obviously the ocassional great one.

Here I will talk a little about three highly addictive time sinks that will tax your skill, willpower, patience and resolve. I take no responsibility for any mental strain or psychological trauma resulting from indulging yourself with these little nuggets of flash game brilliance.

1. Perfect Balance 2
If you like brain teasers that test your patience this one is for you. It's a simple little game with a plethora of available levels (5x20 levels), and, as has become quite mandatory, an achievement hierarchy. The game involves stacking different items on top of eachother in a game area where you work against both the clock as well as gravity. Some levels are quite simple, others are tear-the-hairs-from-your-skull aggravating in that their way of testing both your patience as well as your dedication is bordering on sadism. Highly recommended.

Once you get to the fifth tier of levels the difficulty soars rapidly. Stacking a bunch of sqaures on top of a tiny ledge along with two balls is taxing to say the least, and then there's the level where you've got to stack a bunch of angles, triangles and edges on top of a hemisphere. It's good stuff, but it will surely test your patience. And when you've finally managed to get all the game pieces balanced precariously on top of eachother, you've got the option of racking up some bonus points by adding round gems.

2. Super Stacker 2
It's the same basic premise as Perfect Balance 2, however the implementation of gravity isn't quite as good, and the game is simpler get a grasp of. Perfect for a quick bout of casual gaming, though gets repetitive quickly. I list it because I like these kinds of construction games, and I expect the difficulty to ramp up as I get to the upper tiers.

As soon as you get to the medium tier, the game becomes more interesting, and the little bricks and pieces are very cute. Also, completing all tiers gives you the option of unlocking the bonus mode, which is when things get really interesting. Unlocking this mode let's you play through all leves again, except this time all the bricks will be produced randomly. Sometimes this will result in impossible levels, but selecting "try again" gives you another order that might be possible. Also, completing levels in this mode gives you gold stars, adding to replayability in that it rewards your efforts.

3. Red Remover

This is a peculiar little game.

It's another blocky teaser that entails removing the red tiles, but leaving the green ones. This sound simple enough, but after a quick and easy initial 10 levels gravity goes bonkers. You have to consider four planes of gravity, and watch the tiles to see which way they'll fall. You even need to worry about timing some of your removals. It's not as good as the above two games, but certainly worthy of a quick romp.

There's also a bonus mode which unlocks after you've completed all 40 levels. This mode blacks out the game area and provides you with a flashlight that illuminates only a small portion of the screen. Successfully playing through the game in this mode will unlock the final five levels, and it will give you gold stars.

So there you have it. Three good games for when the day just screams out for some serious procrastination. I will continue writing articles about good flash games now and again, but considering the amount of games out there I will have to take time to find some new good ones. Until the next time, enjoy these three small games - I did.

Dragon Age - building a module

A few weeks ago I started a project building a new add-in module for the game Dragon Age - Origins. The sudden ending of the main campaign in the game was to me an anti-climax, and left me wanting for more. Initially the DLC's were decent enough, but the fact that the world map is greyed out and none of the locations are available for free-roaming, made me decide to build my own module to tie into the main campaign.

I've designed the module to be added to the main-campaign and thus to be played at any given time, and it should also stay open after the main-campaign is over. Hopefully I might even find the time to build it into a larger campaign, and not just as the single-quest add-in which I am aiming for at the moment.

Building the locations, and setting the module up for the story and the quest is simple enough, but I've run into some issues. While I do dabble in modelling in 3D Studio, and I do believe I should be able to build simple models such as swords, I am currently not at the level where I can build complex models such as creatures. Therefore I wonder if there is someone out there skilled in 3D Studio that might be willing, and who might have the time to help me out. I need a white tiger, and personally I planned to modify a Mabari into a white tiger, but obviously you are free to decide how to attack the problem.

Here's a teaser shot of one of the locations in my module.

That's a view a little elevated from the starting position. It shows the local chantry, a windmill, a few other buildings as well as the looming presence of a very tall tower in the distance. There is a lot more obviously, such as a cave, a few lakes and rivers, and a high level wizard of ambiguous alignment (whose familiar is supposed to be a white tiger). Personally I find the toolkit to be simple in use and easy to learn; particularly when using the model preview function in tandem with the toolkit wiki which has a substantial overview of the model library available.

Needless to say (I imagine) I love this game. As far as I'm concerned it's the best RPG since Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion, and I deeply hope that support and further addition to the world will be made by the developers. However, the lack of an open-ended campaign and free-roam world upon the completion of the main campaign are let-downs. During my initial play-through I had several unfinished quests pending, and only went forward with the main campaign in order to gain a level quickly, and I thought that concidering the RPGs made lately this one would also allow for free roaming after the end.

Nevertheless, it's an excellent game - bordering on terrific - that everyone with a penchant for RPGs should have a go at. Regardless of the lack of the ability to roam freely after completing the main campaign, the game has tons of content, loads of NPCs and a crapload of items. It is well balanced, and the adventure(s) provide ample challenge for both the novice as well as the experienced gamer.

My own addition to the Dragon Age world will be designed as a high level (level 20+) campaign, and I hope to find the time and the oportunity to add to it further with the goal of turning it into a sort of world within the world module. Hopefully I manage to tie it into the main campaign seamlessly by introducing it by means of a travelling sage meeting the player party in camp. We shall have to wait and see.

Outsmarted

So there I was, having made it home from work in one piece, the shopping had been done and all was set for an evening of relaxation with the missus and our absolutely gorgeous three-months old twins. Little did I know what fate, by means of my better half, had in store for me.

First things first: a little more than three months ago the missus gave birth to twins - a boy and a girl - and since then our lives have revolved around a steady routine of diaper changes, baby baths and feedings. That's not to say it isn't enjoyable, it's just routine, but it has no real bearing on my anecdote for today - I just mentioned it to get a little backstory in place.

Yesterday was no different at first. I came home, and found the twins gesturing enthusiastically for cuddles and food, but first their diapers had to be changed for new ones. The mechanics and logistics of this is certainly not a problem, though at times it might involve highly unpleasant smells and sights. Still, there are worse things, right? Anyway, the missus took hold of the boy and went to sort him out with fresh clothes and a clean diaper. After a couple of minutes she returned with a happy grin all over her face, and she proclaimed with loving enthusiasm that "Great! His poo has taken on a lovely consistency similar to toothpaste, and now it has turned brightly yellow!" She was bordering on ecstatic ... because of the consistency and colour of poo.

Okay, so the little guy has had some stomach issues the past couple of weeks, and it's good to know that he is on the mend, but damn! There's only one poo story I've ever enjoyed, and I'm really not all that interested in neither consistency nor colour. Frankly I find it somewhat unpleasant to talk about poo, stool, feces or just plain shit. But I've got to laugh though, because until the twins were born, so did the missus.

Now for the second bit of my anecdote.
The twins have grown, and while we up until yesterday has had them sleeping together for comfort and warmth, they have now gotten too big for this to be practical in their cots. So, we had to rearrange their beds and sleeping stations by installing separate beds for the twins in our bedroom, and the cot that used to sit in our livingroom then had to be replaced with a "travel cot" we had stuffed into a closet. So far so good, but then it was up to me to get the bed out and mounted in our livingroom.

So I fetched the package-of-bed from the closet and carried it with me to the livingroom. When packaged it is stuffed into a bag roughly the same size as any other travellers bag. However, when I pulled it from the bag, this is what I was presented with:

Trust me when I say that this is a contraption of pure evil, and if I ever were to meet the engineer responsible for constructing or designing it, we shall have words! Words I say!

I take a certain amount of pride in the fact that I am able to take apart and reassemble pretty much anything, but this thing is simply beyond the scopes of reason, logic and normal mechanics. In order to make it take on it's intended bed-like shape you'd have to grab the long bars by the center and then pull upwards rapidly until they snap into place. Well, I pulled and I pulled and I pulled, but nah ... no snapping shut. Instead it managed to land on my foot which today is swollen and tender (that pic is not my foot by the way, but it serves its purpose of illustration).

Eventually I decided to try to outsmart it. So I gently grabbed the long side bars by the center and tried coaxing them together, and what do you know? Suddenly I managed to get one of the long bars locked, and then the other one. However, by this time the cot had seen through my ruse, and as I moved on to try to get the short bars locked, no amount of pulling, twisting, prying, bending or cursing would achieve anything other than unlocking one of the long bars again.

In the end I managed to get the long bars locked again, and left it with short bars unlocked. It's not entirely upright, but it can contain the twins until my next attempt. I'll be damned before I let a simple travellers cot defeat me, so I've got a sort of cold war going between me and the cot. Let's see who's the patient one.