Steve Jackson's Blog, page 29

January 18, 2025: The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 3D Printer: Best Beginner's (Or Expert's!) Resin Printer: Part 2

  The Saturn is also self-leveling and self-adjusting. This is truly a plug-and-play printer. It works well with the Atlas Vulcan resin that we recommend with our STL sets, though if I was doing very high-res prints, I might want to use the spendy but very good resin I use with the Phrozen Sonic Mini; it gives superb prints at 8k, and the Saturn is capable of 12k. I'm not going to say it's the only printer you'll ever need, because technology is always advancing. My Ender 3 was amazing when I first got it; now it's in a box in the attic. But the Saturn will certainly take care of your gaming print needs into the foreseeable future; it'll always be "good enough." And it's fairly cheap in the US  . . . $400, ballpark. If you've been looking at some of the STL files we are selling on Warehouse 23, like CARnage or Foes – or my favorites, the 3D components for Wiz-War – this is the printer to get. I'm starting to feel like I'm writing ad copy for Elegoo here! But, really, since we sell STLs, we want you to be able to print them easily, and with the best results possible. And the Saturn 4 Ultra is unquestionably the one I recommend.

– Jean McGuire

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 17, 2025: The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 3D Printer: Best Beginner's (Or Expert's!) Resin Printer – Part 1

The first 3D printer I ever saw in action was one of the early MakerBot filament (FDM) printers. It was for sale in a Sam's Club. They had a demo running, which consisted of a couple of feet attached to a spaghetti monster – that's what it's called when a filament print fails and the printer just spews filament in a big stringy ball. I was not impressed. (Nor was I impressed by the price, around $1k.) Fast forward to about 2018. I was at Con Nooga and a vendor was selling STL files for making 3D printed cavern floor tiles . . . hexagon tiles! And he had an Ender 3 setup printing out demos. Now I was impressed. I was extremely impressed. I bought the CD of the tile STLs, went home, and ordered an Ender 3. Then I promptly lost the CD. I never found it again, nor have I ever found the vendor. (If you're him, please let me know!) My first print, by the way, was a walking octopus. (This was long before ours – one of which is available as a free sample.) About a year later I took my first tentative steps into resin printing. Since then, I've accumulated seven printers from three different manufacturers. One manufacturer is somewhat decent, one doesn't have anything I'll ever touch again, and one is Elegoo, my favorite. They're affordable, reliable, and good. A few months ago, after seeing YouTuber Uncle Jessy's videos about it, I bought an Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra. And I couldn't be happier with it. I love that printer. It's not their cheapest, butmfor the average home user, it's by far their best. It's also the most newbie-friendly. It's blindingly fast. I've compared the Saturn side by side with the Mars 2 Pro, and the Saturn is more than twice as fast. The build plate on the Saturn is about 2.5 times the size of the Mars, which means I get about 5x the throughput (I'd recommend a second build plate, available from Elegoo, for quick turnaround, so you can wash one while printing on the other). This might not be important at first glance – but if you're planning on printing enough gpb;ins to do a nice horde for Friday's game, it definitely matters. Another great feature is the onboard camera. I can run the entire print job from right here at my desk – sending the file to the printer, watching how it's coming along, etc. This is particularly handy if your printer is somewhere inconvenient, like in your basement . . . Tune in tomorrow for Part 2!

– Jean McGuire

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 16, 2025: Monster Show For Monsters

Every third Monday, after the sun goes down, the Red Light Cafe in Atlanta, GA comes alive with a primal howl. This is the traditional opening of Monster Show for Monsters, the world's only variety show exclusively by and for monsters!

This devilish revue is hosted by Boris Karhop, a shapeshifting goth swamp creature from the Okefenokee, and the Jack of Diamonds, a sentient time-traveling playing card from the mirror dimension. On a Monday night, you can see drag, stage magic, burlesque, poetry, live music, standup comedy, and just about anything else your local monsters can think of. The vibes between acts can shift from sexy to silly to heartfelt to horrifying and back again in the blink of an eye. And it's fun.

My own monster show debut came just last month, and it was decidedly Silly. After Boris did a fantastic Wicked parody as Mothra – The Lizard and I – I knew what had to be done. I asked Boris if he would do Confrontation from Les Miserables with me as Godzilla. Within a matter of days I'd sent him a rewrite of the lyrics, with Godzilla-as-Javert clamoring for humanity's destruction as punishment for their nuclear sins while Mothra-as-Valjean preached mercy and redemption for mankind.

Clockwise, from top: Boris Karhop as Mothra (Left) versus Igor as Godzilla (Right),
Portrait of Igor as Godzilla, Cast Photo of 12/16 Monster Show
Photos: Blake Pipes Photography

I don't have any immediate plans to take the stage again, but I had a great time letting my inner monster out for a night, and now the sight of the full moon fills me with an eldritch urge to write monster-themed song parodies . . . And if any Atlanta-area monsters are reading this, come on down and join the party at Red Light Cafe on the third Monday of each month.

– Irene Zielinski

P.S. Shout out to Turbo Dork paint for making the Godzilla head really shine!

 

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 15, 2025: Take Me To Your Ruler(s)!

One site I find myself visiting more often than I'd expect is PrintableRulers.net. It does what it says in the URL, providing a variety of ready-to-print rulers for various needs.

Sure, I could stretch the truth and say that I used them when I don't want to lug around a heavier plastic/metal ruler, or risk permanent marker on any of my sturdier versions. And, yes, it's handy to have a copy or two stuffed into my gaming supplies. But the truth of the matter is that rulers are useful enough in various tasks to go on journeys around the house; sometimes it's easier just to print a new one than try to figure out where my cork-backed metal straightedge is.

Just make certain to print them at 100% scale!

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 14, 2025: Help Us Steer Car Wars In The Right Direction

Hello, Car Wars fans! Do you have opinions about Car Wars Sixth Edition ? (Of course you do!) Let's hear 'em! We want to be sure we're creating games that people love, but we can't do that if we don't hear from you. To that end, we've created a survey to help us learn more about our Car Wars audience, your experiences with the game, what you enjoy the most, and what you'd like to see in the future. Head to this link to fill out the survey by January 21. Thanks!

– Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 13, 2025: Bring Back Knightmare

One of the fun things about being married to a European is that you learn about elements of nerd culture you never knew existed. My husband first introduced me to the British show Knightmare many years ago, back when we were having a moment of television nostalgia. Airing from 1987 to 1994, Knightmare was a game show made for kids in which one brave adventurer navigated a dungeon full of monsters, pitfalls, and riddles with the help of their friends. The twist? Each adventurer must don the Helmet of Justice, which limits their vision to just around their feet. Their friends had stay behind in the castle, watching the adventurer via CCTV and instructing them where to go, what to do, and how to answer. This odd set-up was the product of budget constraints and technological limitation. Rather than spending huge amounts of money on elaborate sets, props, and puppetry, Knightmare's dungeon was achieved through the use of blue screen. This allowed the production team to create new rooms that could have multiple doors, crumbling floors, narrow paths, and any number of monsters. The Helmet of Justice forced the adventurer to rely on outside instruction and (presumably) allowed for a more immersive experience. When the other children viewed their friend, they saw the same finished result that TV audiences saw on their screens at home. This had the unintended effect of making home viewers feel like part of the team – when my husband and I watch old episodes on YouTube, we often catch ourselves shouting out what the adventurer should be doing when their friends have a freeze moment, argue about what should be done next, or give conflicting instructions to the adventurer. (It happened many times. Many, many times.) Knightmare has become a cult classic in the years since its cancellation, but I can't stop thinking about the possibilities. Green screens and CGI have come a long way since Knightmare's time, and it seems like a no-brainer to bring back a similar game for TV or streaming. What's not to love about a live-action, dungeon-delving adventure in which contestants defeat enemies with trivia answers, bypass monsters with cheese, and do battle with evil wizards by spelling out words? (These things actually happened. Yes, really.) You could even combine it with elements of The Crystal Maze or Double Dare to add a bit more physicality to the proceedings. What's not to love? It sounds far more exciting than any of the game shows on TV today.

– Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 12, 2025: Add-icted To Math?

Electronics company Casio has apparently tapped into desires I didn't even realize and made available a line of affordable calculator watches.

Sporting a look and feel that evokes their 1970s and 1980s brethren, these watches are available in a few different colors and styles.

For those who didn't live in the pre-phone era, it's difficult to explain how magical it was to have a calculator, video game, or other useful or diverting electronic gizmo on one's watch. I vividly recall using my own adding device to do various gaming-related math when I was supposed to be focusing on classwork in school.

Sure, all that functionality is available a dozen times over in myriad gizmos I have at my fingertips today, but there's a joy for me that comes from hitting "9 x 9" over and over until I get an error message.

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 11, 2025: I Miss Book Covers

When I was a schoolboy – last millennium – I remember being somewhat enthralled with book covers. These were either "official" store-bought covers, or homemade ones crafted from paper grocery bags. I'd put them on my schoolbooks, as well as my beloved paperbacks and hardcovers. I recall my now-disintegrated Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook had a particularly snazzy design – no doubt enhanced by markers and stickers.

Once I hit college, I never thought about book covers again. I'm not sure why; book covers are pretty cool! In addition to being a spot for handy notes or at-my-fingertips references (especially the paper ones), they also let me try out my terrible art skills (or, nowadays, my graphic-design capabilities).

How about you all? Anyone adorning their beloved GURPS Basic Set with covers? Is there an underground book-cover-aficionado community I've never heard about? Feel free to share your personal anecdotes and observations on the forums!

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 10, 2025: What's In The Box?

Our household has a game collection that goes back decades (and encompasses a before-times era when we were two households). It's always an interesting time-capsule treat to open a boxed game from bygone years and discover something else in there: promo pieces from past Gen Cons, bits of ephemera, scraps of house rules or clarifications . . . every so often, we come across dot-matrix printouts of errata or homemade record sheets. It's especially fun to see penciled notes. "Whose handwriting is that?!" we'll muse as we pass the paper around like careless archeologists.

In that way, I love game boxes because there's always a sense of not knowing what you'll find in there. However, if it's a game I haven't played in a really long time, having extra bits in the box messes with my compulsive need to inventory . . .

If you have any anecdotes of some blast from your personal past that you've found in a game box, I'd love to hear about it on the forums.

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 9, 2025: Who Goes First?

I'm always amused by the way boardgames determine who goes first. Often it's left to the dice ("roll to see who goes first"). Sometimes it's left up to the players ("figure out who goes first"). Sometimes they make a joke out of it, like with Munchkin's rules: "Decide who goes first by rolling the dice and arguing about the results and the meaning of this sentence and whether the fact that a word seems to be missing any effect."

Other times it's thematic: "The player who most recently watched a movie" or " . . . most recently traveled," in the case of a movie- or travel-based game. Or considerate: "The youngest player goes first."

One possibility I find especially amusing is when it's a disadvantage to go first (because it betrays your position, gives other players more info, etc.) and yet the game acts as if it's being considerate.

RULES: The youngest player goes first.

PLAYERS: Congratulations, little Billy! You're about to get crushed by the other players!

Any other options you find especially funny or memorable? Feel free to let me know on the forums.

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!