Windchimes

2020-Jun-29, Monday 07:20 pm
Last week I made a game. Well, a super casual puzzle non-game; no stress, no pressure, no end. There is a sense of progress, but each 'level' is just the first one recreated with a bunch of random variables. It is something I wanted to basically fidget with when stressed, but not require any real brain power. It's called Windchimes. There are a bunch of bells in a tree. You have to find the correct subset to enable the continue button. The pattern of the 'correct' bells is random, there is no visual indication which is which. And each run employs a random assortment of sounds. There are a bunch of xylophones, a flute, some Korg sounds, at the moment. You only get a random subset of each at a time. If you find a set of sounds you like you can just play with them, try different combinations, rhythms, timings, etc. Or you can try for another tree. I want to add more variations to make it even more random, and infinitely playable. But some people have already suggested some optional playmodes, just in case you do want something with a bit more brain. We'll see how much time I get.

The art comes from a combination of sources. I sketched some things by hand, scanned them, outlined and coloured in in the unfortunately named GNU Image Manipulation Program. Some things were created directly in gimp. Others I found at Open Game Art.

The sounds also come from a combination of sources. I recorded some in Audacity, and found some at SoundPacks.com and Free Wave Samples.

The game engine is Unity, helped along with a scripting course.

If you want to give it a go you can find a WebGL version here. But be kind, it is literally my first ever game/project in Unity, more a homework exercise than anything. Though at least now I feel like I could head along to a GameJam and actually be some help.
An Arduino microcontroller can generate a square wave on PWM pins to simulate an analog wave. But the wave alternates between 5V and 0V, it doesn't change polarity.

If you have a component that expects an AC signal you need to change the 0V to 5V signal to a -5V to 5V signal.

One simple way to do this is with a SparkFun Transceiver Breakout. Connect the Power pin to either 3.3V or 5V on the Arduino, GND to GND, T2IN to a PWM pin, and T2OUT to your component. analogWrite() your required frequency to control your component.



Back of SparkFun Transceiver Breakout with labelled pins visible
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

Way back in Part One I had a go at making a custom enclosure, to house the Gemma Jewel Circuit, from polymer (bake-in-the-oven) clay and a purchased bead forming tray. It worked okay, but there was room for improvement.

Firstly I wanted a deeper, more domed, front to the necklace than the purchased tray provided. Something more like a hemisphere. Actually, maybe exactly a hemisphere. But I couldn't find any forming tools to do this. I wandered into the craft shop and found a bouncy ball with about the right diameter to encase the Gemma Jewel. Then I picked up some air-dry clay, and made my way home.

I am very new to all this, this is just an experimental log, not a how-to.

Details )

I have plans in motion for the rest, but for now; to be continued.
(I'm not all that well and on a lot of steroids, so while I can't sleep here's something I made in April and finished up during campGNDd.)

New Look pattern 6036 is billed as a Misses and Mens vest pattern, but on the pattern itself it is referred to as Misses and Unisex. (Because unisex means mens. *rolls eyes*) They are very simple learning-the-basics waistcoats, which I am, so it was a nice, quick ... I was going to say build, but that's not right. Construction? It was a nice, quick construction.

I made View E (which is the unisex one), without patch pockets, in a size XL. I used a strange black woven fabric with a nice texture I bought years back from a remnant bin. It is hard to cut, with an almost metallic sheen to some of the fibres. The lining is just black woven poly-cotton which actually felt nice after a lot of steaming.

The pattern really is straight forward. Back piece has two waist darts, two front pieces don't, sew fronts to back at shoulders, and it is fully lined, so same again for the lining. Then, right-sides-together, sew outer and lining together, along all the edges except side seams. Turn right-side-out, and in a loop stitch the side seams except for marked gaps in the lining. You have to hand sew these two seams closed, but with not having to finish a single seam it is worth it.

Pictures )
And that is it. No closures. Which is weird, but I tried it. And didn't like it. So I added hook-and-eye closures, but that didn't quite work either. Eventually I added three buttonholes and matching buttons and called it a day.



Finished waistcoat with added button closures, front
Photo by [personal profile] chebe



It is fine as a loose garment. It could do with tweaks like shortening the shoulders, and a little extra width at the hips. Also the darts at the back aren't really doing anything. But as an extra layer upon which to attach my ever expanding pin collection, it will do lovely.

(no subject)

2020-Jun-04, Thursday 10:44 pm
I virtually attended campGNDd last weekend. It was a couple of days of talks, which either directly overlapped with something I'm working on and/or were just plain interesting. I also made some progress on existing projects, which feels great. But, the point of this post is, one of the guys asked for volunteers to blog more often this month, to help encourage himself to blog more. I am one of the volunteers. I figured I'd try something new for this blog, and actually post at least once every week this month. (There is no guarantee as to quality.) You can find his post with the other volunteers here. I've also added them to my side-bar to help me keep track of them. (And gave the ole blog a lick of paint and updated the profile a bit.)



Photo of zoom screen displaying campGNDd logo with 'Black Lives Matter' banner in ascii/line art on a CRT
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

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