I'm a Frag Doll!!!

I'm a Frag Doll!

www.FragDolls.com
Frag Doll Sabre

ULTRAMARINES

For all you Games Workshop & Warhammer 40K lovers out there...check it out!

**WARNING: MILD SPOILERS AND POOR VIDEO QUALITY**
http://fragdolls.com/index.php/blogs/category/cadettes

Happy Valentine's Day!

Watch this now!

Video Blog #5 - BioShock New Year's Eve Party

Happy New Year!

This year, my boyfriend Jason and I decided to host a BioShock themed New Year's Eve party at my house. We loved the idea of re-creating Rapture, the underwater metropolis of BioShock, but MAN we had NO IDEA what we were getting ourselves into.

Here is the Video Blog I created for the Frag Doll site:



And now, for the details:

1. Creating the under-water city

Rapture is an iconic city featuring New York-esque buildings and art decco-styles. I fell in love with the city as soon as I read my first BioShock article in a Game Informer magazine years ago, and it has been so much fun re-creating the city in my house.

Designing the City
The first step in creating Rapture was designing the multiple skyscrapers in the city skyline. Using the picture above, I drew different buildings (styles and sizes) on black cardboard. To make the perspectives stand out, I painted the lines of the buildings with silver paint - just light enough to see, but not too bright so as to take away from the silhouettes.

Lighting the City

After designing the buildings, Jason took strands of white LED lights (super cheap after Christmas!) and re-soldered all the connections to match up with the windows and signs. As you can see from the picture, the new light strands were long and involved. Each building section (above) took roughly 1~2 hours to light, and with 10 building sections the time really added up!

Submerging the City
Once the buildings were lit, we attached them to my basement walls with tape and thumbtacks. We then cut blue cellophane into 92" strips (the height of my basement walls) and attached them on top of the buildings. The blue cellophane provided a great under-water impression, and made the lighting especially dramatic.

Between each "panel" of blue cellophane (meant to be windows looking out on the city skyline of Rapture) we put one strip of white paper to symbolize columns.

The Finished Product

Look at that under-water skyline! :D

2. Adding details
Propaganda
In BioShock, Rapture is littered with propaganda for Fontaine and Ryan, as well as tons of advertisements for locations in Rapture and of course - Plasmids! We decided to print out some posters for our re-created Rapture, including some of the most well-known signs:

Glowing Sign
Jason found a great company online that deals with El Wire. If you're not sure what El Wire is (I can't dive into specifics because even I don't quite get it) check out this company (elwirepros.com) for the full details.

We ended up buying yards of this wire to create a "neon-glowing" sign for the party. Here's a picture of the desired sign in the game:

Happy New Year 1959

And here is our sign - created out of plywood (black base), El Wire, and hot glue!

Plasmid Drinks
In BioShock, Plasmids are essential for destroying your enemies. - Because this game mechanic is so heavily used in the game, it stands to reason that a BioShock party would entail the use of Plasmids too! Here is the drink list I created for the party:

Electro-Bolt
1.5 oz Amaretto almond liqueur
1-2 splashes Sweet & Sour mix
Green food coloring

Incinerate
1 oz Goldschlage Cinnamon Schnapps
2 oz Lemonade
Red food coloring

Sonic Boom
1 oz Vodka
2 oz Orange Juice
No food coloring required

Telekinesis
2 oz Vodka
1 oz Coffee Liqueur
Light Cream
Purple food coloring

Winter Blast
2 oz Vodka
1 oz Blueberry Schnapps
1 oz Pineapple Juice
Blue food coloring






Splicer Masks
Although Big Daddies are the iconic enemies of the game, the most common fight you'll get into in BioShock is with a splicer, left over from the fall of Rapture. To commemorate this, I picked up some plain white masks, paint, hot glue, and white feathers so that guests could create their own splicer masks.

Splicers with their masks!

3. The Vita-Chamber
We decided that no party in Rapture would be complete without a Vita-Chamber, and making it actually turned out to be fairly straight-forward.

Jason created a wood frame to match the frame of a door in my basement. By cutting semi-circles out of the wood, we were able to create a rounded top from which to hang the "doors." We used a clear shower liner for the "doors" and attached a light colored fabric to the front for the door design. Jason was able to hook up two lights to the top of the Chamber; one with a blue light below the top, and a regular light on the top. Out of the same black posterboard used for the buildings, I used stencils to create the Vita-Chamber sign. We added some blue pipe cleaners for electricity to complete the look:

Overall, it was a pretty amazing party. I ended up leaving a lot of good ideas out at the last minute - but the guests had a great time (whether they had played BioShock or not) and we had a fun time hosting :-)

Happy New Year!

VBlog #4 - Happy Holidays!

As promised, I have created a Video Blog for my Protoss Nexus Gingerbread House (affectionately renamed the "GingerNexus").

I'll post up pictures later, but for now - enjoy!



Happy Holidays, and keep on gaming!

And the beat goes on...

Current exciting news:

1. Still pluggin' along with research: I'm meeting with Dr. C on a regular basis now, which is great and will hopefully keep me on a schedule. I've realized that I'm extremely goal-oriented, and I need to set goals and deadlines for myself the way classes and school used to do. Now that I'm working full-time, it's harder than ever to come home after 8/9+ hours days and attempt to read numerous scientific articles. I think I'll try the divide and conquer approach; I'll break my model into sections, then attack each one separately within a tentative timeframe. And no matter how difficult or daunting this task seems, I'm determined to see it through!

2. Playin' some games: I have a number of games on my "to-play" list, and I'm very excited to get at them. However, Black Ops has been released and my division of the PMS Clan (Modern Warfare 2) will be switching official to a Black Ops division in January...in preparation for this, I've been trying to ramp up my play time on the new game. I both like and don't like Black Ops - it feels a lot like Modern Warfare 2, as I suppose it should, but I miss the Special Ops missions and the maps. Oh, I *really* miss the maps...Black Ops has some great detail in it...but when does it become too much? I wonder if anyone else feels the same...

3. Holidays! Gearing up for the festive season by scoping out the game selections and figuring out what games to buy friends and family. I've also been invited to my boyfriend's family's annual Gingerbread House Party, and I'm trying to figure out a way to create a Starcraft II scene out of gingerbread...we're thinking either a Protoss Nexus (a pyramid out of gingerbread is easy, right?) or a Terran Command Center. Either way, I plan on incorporating my favorite race into the scene - candy-coated zerglings and creep! We'll see how this turns out... :D

That's all, ta-ta for now!

(BTW, hope everyone out there is doing well)

Video Blog #3 - Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear!

I know this isn't video game/industry specific....but I couldn't help but post this. Enjoy!

Fallout: New Vegas

Here are my initial thoughts on the game:

1. I LOVE the intro; Brings the player up-to-speed on the main character, the social/political climate of the West Coast, and the status of the "war." Not to mention it's downright beautiful! I mean...if you can get past all the nuclear waste and grime. I'm kind of all about that though; anything post-apocalyptic or utopia = super awesome in my book.

2. Some things never change - like the character creation! I find it amusing that they can create beautiful scenery and detailed characters, but the character creation functionality is poo. Sure, it gives you plenty of options to change, but on the super-tiny screen that shows your character's face, you can't really see any of the changes! And why does my character look like she always has a 5 o'clock shadow, no matter what settings I change? This is a carry-over problem from Oblivion as well...couldn't make a decent looking character no matter how hard you tried. Fallout is certainly better...but damn.

3. The story is fairly interesting, so far. I was drawn to Fallout 3, not only because I was born in and raised close to Washington D.C., but also because I'm a daddy's girl :-) The New Vegas storyline doesn't pull at my heartstrings, but I like some of the characters enough to continue on. Plus, I'm eager to see what this "New Vegas" is like, and see how it differs (if at all) from the actual Las Vegas.

4. I'm roughly 4 hours into the game, and I feel like I've barely done anything. I like this, however, as I expect RPG's to take hours upon hours to complete. I'm just now leaving the starting 'town,' and as eager as I am to get to New Vegas, I'm forcing myself to stop and look around the wasteland a bit.

So far, I'm diggin' this game! Stay tuned...

Video Blog #2 - New York Comic Con 2010

1. Still getting used to doing Video Blogs, hence they don't have any real 'purpose' yet.

2. Please pardon the poor camera quality and instability - walking and talking are obviously not my strong points.

3. Look at all the pretty, nerdy things!

A message from the ESA

Thanks to a great friend of mine, I was forwarded the following message from the ESA...

October 4, 2010 Dear Friends, In the past few weeks, we witnessed a unique series of events that reflected the significance of the entertainment software industry. These include: an outpouring of support from the political, scientific, business and legal communities in defense of the constitutional rights of video games; a White House ceremony at which President Barack Obama launched a national competition to create a video game promoting math and science learning; and a cover story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine about the importance of games in education.  All of these occurrences represented more visible proof of the positive impact our remarkable industry is having on society. On November 2, our legal team will be before the United States Supreme Court, defending the First Amendment rights of our industry's innovators, creative artists, and storytellers. I am extremely proud of the respondents' brief we filed with the high court, which clearly detailed why the California statute is unnecessary, unwarranted and unconstitutional. No less important, on September 17, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general were among more than 180 First Amendment scholars, social scientists and organizations representing entertainment media, business and journalism that filed amicus briefs in support of our position. Groups as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Cato Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined entertainment media companies and others in opposing the California law as an unconstitutional infringement on our right of free speech. The video game community also continues to show its support through the Video Game Voters Network which now has more than 250,000 activists who believe in the First Amendment and are fighting with us to protect it. To read the amicus briefs and other materials related to the upcoming case, please visit our Supreme Court microsite. By ensuring that computer and video games receive the free speech protection they are entitled to, our industry can focus on creating innovative products that are a source of entertainment and learning. This powerful combination was highlighted on September 16 when President Obama launched the National STEM Video Game Challenge at a White House event as part of his national "Educate to Innovate" campaign. The Challenge, which ESA co-sponsored, aims to motivate interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning by tapping into students' natural passion for playing and making video games.  Research has demonstrated that playing and making games fosters the development of the critical thinking, design and problem-solving skills needed to succeed in STEM subjects and motivate students to pursue careers in these fields. The competition -- supported by The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Microsoft Corporation, American Library Association, The International Game Developers Association and other organizations -- will feature prizes for middle school students who design an original video game, as well as prizes for emerging and experienced developers who design mobile games that teach STEM concepts to young children. The growing use of entertainment software as an educational tool was also highlighted in the September 19 edition of the Sunday New York Times  Magazine article Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom. The piece profiled Quest to Learn, a New York City public school that has incorporated computer and video games into virtually every aspect of their curriculum in an effort to "support the digital lives of young people and their capacity for learning." The fact that the influence of games in education will continue to grow was underscored by neuroscientist Paul Howard-Jones who told the Times that 30 years from now "we will marvel that we ever tried to deliver a curriculum without gaming." To respond to the expanding role that computer and video games are playing in education and other aspects of daily life, an increasing number of institutes of higher education are offering degrees in video game design, development, programming and art. Our own research has shown a record 300 American colleges, universities, art and trade schools will offer these types of programs during the 2010-11 academic year, an almost 20 percent increase over 2009-10.  I know in the weeks, months and years to come we will see even more recognition of the many positive ways computer and video games are impacting the American economy and society. As our Supreme Court case demonstrates, we face challenges today. As our industry's history proves, there is no limit to what our creativity can achieve tomorrow.   Sincerely, Michael D. Gallagher President and CEO Entertainment Software Association More information on this case can be found here. Go crazy!

Halo: Quite the Reach..a mid-game review

Alright everyone...I tried.

I really
really
really tried.

Sadly, Halo Reach is just not a game I can really get into.
Oh, I can't wait to get the hate mail for this one. Let's see if I can't justify my feelings...

I played all of Halo 1, and I can  happily say that it was different, intriguing, and fun. I skipped Halo 2 after I tried the first level (couldn't get past the weird controls/game feel...no thank you), and I played bits and pieces of Halo 3 (mostly multi-player). So, I was really excited to dedicate myself fully to Halo Reach, since I hadn't done so in the past. I really wanted to get caught up in the hype and love for the story and game play. I really wanted to complete the campaign and try my hand at different multi-player styles. And yet, here are the big cons so far:

1. Futuristic Soldiers can't Run n' Gun

I suppose I'm partial to fast-paced shooters. I grew up playing FPS's like Quake and Unreal, so when I encounter game mechanics like the ones found in Halo Reach, I get very frustrated - fast. Having power-ups is neat, but I would never suggest to have 'sprint' as one of these, as 'sprinting' should be something that every soldier has the ability to do all the time, Spartan or not. It also kills me that many of the guns have no scope (at least having add-ons to guns would be nice). Overall the controls seem slow (at least slower than what I'm used to) and unresponsive. I'd love to hit the left analog stick once to crouch, instead of 3 or 4 times. However, this could also be a PEBCAC problem.

     2. Lets do the same thing, over and over and over again!


After three levels of the campaign and a few rounds of multi-player, I keep having to force myself to put the disc in and keep playing. I have little to no interest in finishing the campaign; this may be because I didn't play all of Halo 2 & 3, but also because as of now all the levels are looking the same (both look and objective-wise). Now, I'm still fully committed to completing this game, but for some reason I'm not having nearly as much fun as I would have liked.


But have no fear, there is a silver lining:

1. One small step for FPS's, one giant leap for Online Match-Making

I really like what Halo Reach is doing with the match-making process in multi-player games. Before I joined a clan and became accustomed to the way people interact in online multi-player games, I would avoid playing multi-player games unless I knew everyone playing. I knew I'd only interact with uber-competitive guys who would relish the idea of making fun of a girl playing video games. But in Halo Reach, I'm able to describe my gaming style and preferences, and the game will automatically match me with similar-style gamers. I love it! Too bad I don't love the game.

Now, don't totally hate on me just yet. I'm still determined to see this whole thing through. I'll make my final decision about the game later, after I've beaten the campaign and played many more online multi-player games. But for now...blah.

Video Blog #1 - PAX Prime 2010

Finally! An update!

Yes folks, and a long one at that. Below you can watch my very first video blog, which is all about PAX Prime. Now, I warn you, it's a long video blog....over 10 minutes of pictures and stories from Seattle, Washington. I'm going to make it a point to be more concise in my future video blogs, so hopefully this will be the only 6+ minute vblog. We'll see!

So, what are you waiting for? Take a look! :D

Wait for it...

So, I work at least 8.5 + hours a day at work, then another 2-3 hours at night because I'm slammed with deadlines for my job. Thus, I've not been able to write or film a post...and goodness knows all I want to do is talk about PAX and how great it was. I promise, as soon as this wave of work is finished....I'll write/film a nice blog post :-)

Also, I'm seriously looking for a film crew (or person) to help me figure out this music video (game-related) I'd like to do. I just don't have the technical know-how to film this, and I'd like to talk with someone else to figure out some more creative ways to get my message across. I know, vague, but I really hope I can get this little project off the ground before winter.

That's all for now! Back to the grind....

Update soon!

An update about PAX Prime 2010 and how amazing it was is coming soon! Sadly, I have work responsibilities that take precedence over fun :-(

Much love to the Frag Dolls and Cadettes - these ladies are truly incredible.

T-minus...

2 DAYS UNTIL PAX!!!

Well, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. As soon as I found out I was a Frag Doll Cadette, my stress level has increased exponentially! At my full-time job I have more client meetings, requirements and design reviews, and training sessions than I have space on my calendar, and my after-work life isn't much better. Sadly, there's only so much time for gaming after work...but I wouldn't trade this for anything! There is still so much to be done before I leave...I just hope I don't forget anything!

I'm so excited for this event. I'm thrilled to finally meet the Frag Dolls, some of the most famous women in the gaming industry, as well as the other fabulous Fall Cadettes (and even some past Cadettes)! I'm not sure how much I can disclose as of now, but we Cadettes certainly have our work cut out for us! SO EXCITED!!!

RIP Franz Vonlichten/E.S. Posthumus

Although not directly gaming related, I had to post something about this. I have been a fan of E.S. Posthumus for years after I instantly fell in love with their first CD "Unearthed." My love for their compositions and musical expression deepened with "Cartographer," and I even claimed one track as my 'theme.' Even in gaming, I have chosen to go by the gamertag "Selisona" in honor of my favorite E.S. Posthumus song "Selisona Pi." If you enjoy music that stimulates the imagination and soul, then please listen.


Wow, just listening to it again brings tears to my eyes. This song was my anthem as I battled my way through college, tested my fortitude by joining a sorority and a fraternity, found myself through hip-hop dance and fought for my very own fencing club. I'm deeply saddened to know that one half of this unforgettable team is now gone, and I fear that I may never hear music quite like this again.

::Sigh:: I may just be emotional right now...but my deepest condolences go out to Helmut Vonlichten and the Vonlichten family. Rest In Peace Franz, and in turn, Rest In Peace E.S. Posthumus.

I'M A FRAG DOLL CADETTE!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen...I received the email on Wednesday evening, and it's been torture keeping it a secret! I wanted to scream it from the mountain tops when I found out, but I had to wait until the Frag Dolls officially announced it on Friday! AAHHHHHHHH :D :D :D :D :D

Before I go into details, I want to thank a few people for putting up with my crazy antics/nervous tendencies/procrastinating ways:

1.Jason – My boyfriend, and the creative genius behind our film projects. Without him, my video applications wouldn't be nearly as well lit, filmed, edited, and directed (or fun :D ).
2.My parents – Thanks for all the support, even if mom doesn't quite understand it all.
3.Jess – My bestest, who always puts up with my larger-than-life ideas. Thanks for gaming with me when no other girls would.
4.All my friends and family – You all have provided so much love and support. I only hope to continually return the favor.

Now, back to the FDCs (Frag Doll Cadettes):

Our first event is PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington on Sept. 3-6th. Jason and I had already made plans to go to this event, so it will be interesting to see how this works out logistically. In any event, it should be a blast and I'm super excited to meet and hang with the Frag Dolls and the other lucky Frag Doll Cadettes for Fall 2010! Seriously, I can't believe I made it.

And in honor of the current Spring and future Fall 2010 Cadettes, Frag Doll Siren (one of the newest Frag Dolls) made a fantastic video - check it out!

SOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dream come true, anyone? :D

For the love of all things RIDICULOUS

First off, my Frag Doll Application is finished! This time around, instead of me sitting in front of a camera and answering questions, my boyfriend suggested that I should read a story. I loved the idea, and spent the next few days creating my storybook; laying out all the pictures, deciding what videos should be displayed as I spoke and when, and creating the storybook text. Jason (my boyfriend) and I spent the next week setting up lights, filming scenes, and trying to find time to sleep somewhere in between it all.

I submitted the written portion of my application on Friday afternoon, and my fantastic boyfriend spent the entire day editing my video interview. Now, you might be thinking "But Kim, the video interview is only a 3 minute movie....what could possibly take him so long to edit it?" WELL - aside from horrible traffic, sleep deprivation, and crashing computers, we also had to deal with creating a "living storybook," complete with videos and green screen captures. Here are pictures, just to show you how massive this "video interview" undertaking was...

 (Lights filling up my Living Room)

 (Massive Green Screen)

(My mom on the green screen) 

(My boyfriend, the talented director) 

 (Me, being a princess)

(Me, being a Space Marine Princess)

(Test Run!)

(The Set - look at all those controllers!)

(Opening page of my storybook)

(Reading beneath the camera)

(So many controllers)

(Last day of filming)

As you can see, we put a ton of effort into this film. Little did we know that tragedy would strike just before the deadline. When we tried to render the final product - Jason's computer crashed! We didn't realize it at the time, but one of our green screen film captures was causing the problem, so every time we tried to run the 30+ minute render, it would crash. Running out of time, Jason thought quickly and rendered a copy of just one film take - that of me in front of the camera reading the storybook (sadly, all his hard work editing would not be submitted). After that was rendered, we only had a little bit of time to send the video through yousendit.com - and just sending the video took many hours. At this point, I wasn't even sure if my application would be accepted, since the video interview would probably be received after the deadline.

We were pretty bummed, but this whole experience has inspired me to do better and plan ahead for these applications. I've already started thinking about what I'll do next time...

And just so you all can see the difference in the movie we did send to the Cadettes and the one we should have sent in, here they are:

Film (no green screen captures or editing):

Film (edited, final version that should have been sent in):

Grrrrrr

I'm super frustrated with my Frag Doll Cadette application this round. I have every block imaginable - writers block, creative/artsy block, GAMING BLOCK....It suddenly feels like everything I think or do isn't correct in the slightest. Ugh.

Sorry, I had to let some frustration out here. I'm hoping to have it all done by Thursday night (due date is midnight Friday). I think the worst part is knowing that no matter what I do for the application, the final decision still comes down to a random drawing.

Curse you chance, curse you.

Favorite Openings

As you can tell, I haven't been in the mood to write anything deep or meaningful recently...so I will continue my random blog posts with my favorite video game openings!



Chrono Cross
I distinctly remember hearing this song before I even knew what this game was. I had a demo cd for this game with only five songs on it - this song being the first track. I would listen to it on repeat for the longest time, and I didn't care what the game was about - I knew I had to have it. I still have my copy of the game, and I'm tempted to go back and replay it....and for the record, the OST for this game is amazing.



Final Fantasy VIII
"Liberi Fatali" is certainly one of my favorite songs by Nobuo Uetmatsu (although, I tend to love all his songs), but the video for this fits so well! Of course after I saw this opening I knew I had to get the game...I believe my cousin had it, and after a while he was kind enough to give me his copy :-)



The Legend of Dragoon
Not the greatest intro movie, but it certainly had me hooked! Well that, plus the cover of the game box. This one just brings back good memories...



Dynasty Warriors 6
"Ok, first I'm going to throw my cape and distract you. Then, I'm going to run on water, do some flips and stuff, nearly sink the ship when I land on it too. Next I'm gonna fight a little bit, but as soon as Lu Bu shows up I'm going to get super-human strength in just my hand and rocket-launch my weapon at him...finally, I'll fight Lu Bu one-on-one, while in fire, in the middle of the sky. Sounds like a plan!" - as told by Zhao Yun. I love the extreme ridiculousness.

Thats all for now! I'll probably have another post at some point in the future with more fantastic Video Game Openings!