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Current Projects: Americana Engine (Game Engine Development)

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Tetris Stars Ranks

Could use a few aesthetic improvements. Note that the game will no longer be available on August 31, 2012, and you can only get 16 stars most a game (12-13 average for good players), so good luck on ranking up as far as possible before the game ends.

Level Rank Stars Required (Total)
1 Spark 0
2 Twinkle 15
3 Asteroid 40
4 Firefly 75
5 Meteor 125
6 Moon 180
7 Moonbeam 250
8 Gamma Ray 325
9 Planet 425
10 Hotspot 540
11 Flare 660
12 Corona 790
13 Cosmic Ray 930
14 Planetar 1080
15 Protostar 1235
16 Tetris Star 1400
17 White Dwarf 1600
18 Subgiant 1850
19 Bright Giant 2125
20 Super Giant 2400
21 Pulsar 2700
22 Quasar 3100
23 Nova 3600
24 Supernova 4200
25 Neutron Star 4900
26 Nebula 5700
27 Star Cluster 6600
28 Galaxy 7800
29 Graduate 9500
30 Crewman 12000
31 Apprentice 13000
32 Digger 14000
33 Technician 15000
34 Engineer 16000
35 Designer 17000
36 Architect 18000
37 Co-Pilot 19000
38 Pilot 20000
39 Artisan 21000
40 Rocketeer 22000
41 Flight Leader 23000
42 Lieutenant 24000
43 Commander 25000
44 Captain 26000
45 Admiral 27000

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

TILT Arcade Machines


If you can't get the prizes... buy it. Not the prizes, the machine itself. jk.*

Not sure if they're going out of business... or they just want to make some quick cash.* Other than that, this place (TILT) at Tracy seems to have a lot of games purely based on skill rather than luck (as there are RNGs in most ticket games to determine whether it's a jackpot or near miss).

It's been a while since I've been to any places which dispensed tickets (John's, Boomer's, etc.). I've instead introduced myself to actual slots less than a month ago. I've found something in common: They both print vouchers in order to redeem them for something.

This Machine: Woah. 5 cent machines? That's new. (You still need to insert at least a quarter, but it's five plays there)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Chinese Cultural Camp: Second Year

The return of Stockton Chinese Cultural Camp - this being the second year they have done this. This image? Dennis, Bryan, and Jana doing the lion dance.

Location: Stockton Confucius Church
Duration: 1 Week (June 25-29) 8:30am-12:30pm
Cost: $75
Brief Summary: Learn about the Chinese Culture and engage in a variety of activities, ranging from using chop sticks / abacuses to learning Chinese yoyo / jump rope as well as calligraphy/brush painting, crafts/clay modeling, and folk/lion dancing.

Although it's intended for grades 1-6, who get 'camper' status (red t-shirt), anyone who wants to volunteer can consider for next year - you'll get a free camp t-shirt for helping out.

Final Performance: Friday, June 29, 2012 at 11:30am - open to the public. This video gives a summary of events there if you missed it.

Anything Else: Offical Site

Monday, June 18, 2012

Capital Division, Perler Bead Version (Final Version)

I've been in CKI for three years, and was planning to attend events for a bit of the summer, but my physical presence was cut short when rides to events were not available in my area. I had other things in mind, and the logo is one of them. This... is Capital Division.

Brief History: The original post regarding creating the CKI Logo can be found in this post.

After reaching week two with twelve plates (29x29 pegboards), I realized that when trying to create the top part of the circle, the circle itself wasn't entirely symmetrical, so the entire logo had to be redesigned with the circle being the first thing made into a 4x4 grid size, and the flag/C made last.

I also noticed that I can't build the entire logo on my desk - I ran out of space. That means moving it to another table for better lighting. But wait! There was a 3000 piece puzzle in the way (as well as ten others underneath it) so the most logical thing to do was to finish it up, and complete a goal at the same time. The project was moved and continued from there (albeit destroying most of it to compensate for downsizing the design.) Many of the materials were bought 'as needed' as it was hard to obtain all the perler bead materials at the same time (there were at most two 4 grid packs available per week, and three 1000 bead packs for a single color).

The final logo designed was completed by the third week in June. It was well received and jaw dropping at the same time.

Build Order: On the new build, the original capital division logo was resized, and edited to make the circle symmetrical. The red 'K' was built first, as well as outlines for both the capital building and the blue stripe. It is not an exact replica of the printout - some of the shades and lettering were improvised as there were no colors available for half shades, and some areas were redesigned altogether if I didn't think it looked right from a distance.

Next Steps: Several more (large scale) Perler bead projects exist in my queue:

  • Zuma Blitz Gratuitous (golden) beetle.
  • MCHS modern Dragon logo
  • Sac State Squirrel (2011-2012, colored)
  • UOP Logo
  • 'Important' CKI people.

Additionally, there will be posts regarding Zombie Playground concept art (with my interpretation of how the game might look) - my cousin Jason Chan designed most of the art design for the game, and I would like to play a role in shaping it.

Stats:

  • Bead Consumption: Approximately 12,000 beads.
  • Cost: $72 over six weeks, with the majority of the materials bought at Joann's Fabrics. Tip: Each Sunday there's usually a coupon that discounts one item by 40%, and in some weeks, coupons are available that discount your entire order by a small amount. Take advantage of these.
  • Likes: 22 (new record for non-group images)

Sunday, June 17, 2012

On The Rocks: Lake Tahoe Hiking

Facing one of the largest obstacles in the history of my life in the form of hiking - Maggies Peak in Lake Tahoe, CA. Facing at least four miles and five hours to hike up this mountain in Tahoe, as well as climbing on the rocks in order to reach the top, the grand view is definitly worth it as the longest hike I've completed so far.

The goal was originally intended to be completed with Julie Ton last summer, but money issues delayed this indefinitely. I was given an opportunity to hike last month when one of my cousins were planning a hike at Tahoe in June, and took it.

Meanwhile at CKI: They have their June DCM at King's Beach in Lake Tahoe. They're way up north. And we're in the south.

Trails: Eagle Falls, Bayview

Hike Difficulty: Advanced Beginner. I've been informed that it wasn't too bad, with gradual slopes throughout the trail. My experience on this hike, however, says otherwise. There were some misleading paths and a LOT of rock steps to climb up on.

Recommended Equipment: Mosquito repellent, some water (at least 2 Liters), and some food.

Tips: Train yourself before going on this - there's around 5-6 miles that you'll have to go through, going up and down 2000 feet.

Goal Completed: #79. Go hiking somewhere with someone else. (Goal done at Lake Tahoe, with 8 others.)

Friday, June 8, 2012

3000 Pieces, 1 Month

A 3000 piece puzzle assembled within one month of buying it. That is all.

#95E. Finish at least a 3000 piece puzzle. (Goal Completed)

There were a few hitches initially - one including that the size of the puzzle is larger than the table it was built on - good thing the felt surface of the puzzle saver had enough traction to hold the pieces down, else pieces would've fallen off the sides.

This will probably be the one and only one time I build a puzzle of this size.

Keep Note: Do not attempt to store the puzzle in its rolled up form for an extended period of time - you are very likely to lose your progress upon unrolling it if it's not fully inflated and/or pieces don't interlock very well.