Diving Dragon Games

Blog Closed

2008-04-05T13:49:00.003-04:00

Well, I never really used this blog much anyhow. I found a google search ended an associate up at this site.

The new Diving Dragon Games site can be found at http://divingdragongames.org

New Project

2008-02-28T00:19:00.001-05:00

I am starting yet another new project. The difference is that this project does not take me too far from my main project.

I am designing a new game, and I want it to be ready in time for this year's DragonCon. I am not going to get a booth. Instead I am just going to mingle. That is how I plan on saturating the market with my game. It will seem very common place, but I can guarantee it is not.

That is all I am going to divulge for now, since I have no idea if I can meet my own five month deadline.

Crap!

2007-12-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I was typing up the rulebook the other day, and even finished another two sections. The probelm is that after I saved, it only saved to my temporary interenet cache, and I ended up deleting it on accident after a virus scan. I lost quite a bit of typing. Crap!

Brains Dripping...

2007-12-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I said I would stop when my hands got numb, and it happened. Also, it feels like my brains are dripping out of my ear.

I think I am going to go home now. More typing tomorrow.

Progress Followed by Set Backs and then More Progress

2007-12-11T18:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I have the first teaser card up and ready. It is nothin special, but you can fin it here: http://colstate.facebook.com/share_redirect.php?h=1ae199a9e4e75507fae409e85f49b5fe&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freewebtown.com%2Fadninja%2Fthralls%2Fprotocards%2FThunderstone%2520Alloy.doc&sid=15340715206

Now when it comes to the setbacks, the notebook that had all of the rules that I had come up with has fallen off the face of the earth. I am not going to let that slow me down though. I am not going to stop typing until I have it done and posted (or until my hands are numb, whichever comes first).

Okay, "New" Project.

2007-12-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

So it turns out that the stuff I was going to make the dice with is rather, well, cancerous in the quantities that I was going to be exposed to. Fortunately, all is not lost.

I am resurrecting a card game that I have been designing for a few years, but this time I intend to go the distance and make it commercial. That will take time, planning, and the most important thing that I am currently lacking, money.

When ever I make a breakthrough, I will post it here.

Still Here

2007-07-27T15:09:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let all of the people who seem to stumbling across this blog know that:

1. Yes I am still here

2. Yes I am still working on the custom dice

3. I am still breaking into a sweat when I go to my shop.

It will cool off soonish, but until then the molds will be getting a revamp soon. I just need to be more delicate with my extraction and tooling of the compound.

Confession

2007-07-24T14:21:00.000-04:00

The real reason I have not made any progress on the dice is that I live in Georgia, it is summer, and my workshop is not air conditioned. It blows.

Update

2007-07-18T14:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems I have not been as up to date about my projects as I would like. Well, I am still following my rule of "when I make progress I post", but progress is harder since classes have started. I am hoping I can get more done when I have more time (i.e. my truck is paid off in two months).

Until then, I have started a couple of other prjects that are much less time consuming, yet neater in their own way.

I tinkered around with a new type of deck box that a person can download and print out, and even customise to fit their needs. (I really need to make an entry with all of my printables) The best part is that instead of fighting to get out your deck, you just pull a tab and it falls away. When you are done, just put your deck in the center and fold it back up. I am now going to make this in leather and magnetic sheeting.

Other things are going on now, but I can't think of it. I do need to make a magnetizer for the sheets though.

Two Words

2007-06-25T23:43:00.001-04:00

Gummy Dice. That is all.

Wow

2007-06-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems that I am getting a little traffic as of late. I like that there are individuals that are interested in what I am doing here. I guess I need to update even more often.

Well, I just melted down my last batch of molds. I repoured them and they have set. I have 6 successes out of 7. The d20 has nevercooperated. I will get it some day.

Another thing I have done is try to find some seed money. My problem is that I break even on all of my paychecks, and what little spending money I do get is gone far before I can buy supplies. That is one of the reasons the ads are here. I also found a few other ways to make money online. I am the member of a few sites, and in about an hour I made $90 on one. I am going to keep this up while the molds are setting, or I have only one hour or so before I need to get in the bed for work the next day. I hope to make a killing tonight since I am off tomorrow, and I am sleeping in the next morning.

Me, Me, Me

2007-06-20T12:17:00.000-04:00

Well, I have finally done what has always helped my creativity. I forgot about what the customers want and focused on myself. This is the true reason I started dice making, not to sell large quantities.

One of the designs I am working on is making a faux rust dice set. I am also thinking about a chalkboard dice set. Don't ask. Terra cotta and hammered copper are also on the table.

YAY!

2007-06-18T23:54:00.000-04:00

Well, I came home to check on my dice. It turns out that 9 hours is enough time for a decent cure. They are a little yellow, but OMFG they look sweet. Now if I could only get those tiny little air bubbles out of the resin. I do need to remake the mini d20 mold and the tops for the d6 and mini d4. Other than that, I have no complaints. It has begun!

Test Time

2007-06-18T16:33:00.000-04:00

Well, some of the molds are still giving me grief, but I think it is time to test out the ones I do have. I only have 3 small molds and 3 regular molds. Fortunately this is only because I did not seem like testing to see whether or not 5 others made it. The regular d12 and d20 are the ones that are just not working. Fortunately the messes can be melted down. I know you are all getting tired of hearing about that though.

The test dice that I am working on will hopefully be clear. I never bought new resin, so the hardener is still yellow. I seem to remember the resin clearing after the curing stage, so hopefully I'm right.

The main reason I am testing without a full set of molds is simple. I don't know if the heat generated by the curing of the resin will melt my molds. The fact that the molding material melts might work against me. Wish me luck.

Discovery

2007-06-16T00:15:00.000-04:00

When it comes to making my specialty dice, I need to be able to etch a metal plate with acid. This is easy, but making a stencil for the design is not. The other method to do this is to iron the toner from a laser printer image onto the metal. I don't have one, but I just realised that the ones on campus are laser printers.

More Molds

2007-06-15T16:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I tried to make some molds today. I took 13 attempts, and all but 4 were a success. Well, at least the bottom parts. I have not had enough successes to attempt a full mold yet. But tomorrow I am going to make the other 4 and then go for the full mold. After that I am going to pour the resin and go for it!

Well

2007-06-14T13:07:00.000-04:00

I would like all of you to know that I made on successful mold. Sadly that is just one out of the seven that I attempted. I just need to figure out how to make a top for this mold that will put the markings on the final side. The mold that succeeded was the d4.

Soon I will have a treat for all of my regulars. In the past, I have dabbled in making custom paper dice that people can print. I will be uploading them to my file host and posting links here. I have to have some sort of incentive for my readers, seeing as how the dice making is going slower than I would like.

Gotta Love Goodwill

2007-06-12T23:31:00.000-04:00

Well, when I got home today, I had in my possession what appears to be the only metal cup in Goodwill. In fact, they had no cooking items at all. So I lucked out.

When I got into my workshop, I went to take the tiles in my double boiler only to have my hand bounce off of the water. It turns out that the gelatine compund that leaked in after yesterday's fiasco dispersed and solidified the water.

Tonight I am too tired to work, and tomorrow is going to be busy enough. I am banking on Thursday night and Friday. I hope to have a test set made in the next couple of days. Wish me luck.

Oh Crap

2007-06-12T00:27:00.000-04:00

When I was mixing up a new batch of mold compound, the glass that was holding the gelatin shattered dumping it into the water in the double boiler. Sadly, this was after I mixed in my old batch too. Not only did I lose about $3 worth of gelatine, but I also lost $4.50 in my old batch. At least I still have the glycerine from this batch, so it is all good. I guess this is telling me I need to figure out my mold method first.

I Knew It

2007-06-10T23:40:00.000-04:00

I knew when my first mold came out without resistace, and produce such a high quality impression that I had to have done something wrong. It turns out that my others are a little more resistant and may have a couple of flaws. Oh well.

I need to think of a cheap way to make a fall away housing for the molds. And I need to find a place that has gelatine and glycerine cheaper and in larger pacakges.

Volume Volume Volume

2007-06-10T21:29:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let you all know that the 4oz of mold material I made will make about 4 dice molds. My initial estimates were right. I hope they turn out well, though I doubt the d20 will. I kinda got it stuck to my finger like a booger, and an air bubble formed. I popped it, but we will see. If it failed, I can melt it down in the future.

Jell-O Molds

2007-06-10T17:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it turns out that glucose is not needed for the recipe just as I thought. The tablets are tasty though.

I just made up a batch, and it worked like a dream. I know now that it will be easy to pour, no biggie if I mess up, it is more flexible than the rubber putty I use and is tougher as well. Also, you can control the set time by adding heat or cold. This is going to be awesome.

Here is my version of the recipe with prices.

1oz gelatine powder....$1.50 (Winn-Dixie)
1oz water....free (your home faucet)
2oz glycerine....$1.99 (A.C. Moore)
>1oz denatured alcohol....32oz for $6.00 (Lowes)

After that follow the procedure listed in tha link I posted, and go for it.

It also seems that my resin will not generate enough heat to melt it, which is awesome. However, I have not tested it yet.

Well Then

2007-06-09T16:51:00.000-04:00

It seems that though the formula ingredient list mentions the need for glucose, it may not actually be needed. The procedure did not mention it once. I guess I will not need to clean my pestle and mortar after all. I will do that anyhow since it has had dragon blood in it for months. When that will be I cannot tell you.

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble

2007-06-09T16:42:00.000-04:00

Well, I have all of the ingredients for the molds, I think. I don't know if the glucose I got was the right kind. The recipe did not mention what kind, whether or not it was solid or liquid. I could not even find pure glucose. It is a tablet that is raspberry flavored, and has a list of ingredients. Hopefully that is not too problematic. Everything else is pure, and that is what matters.

If everything goes according to plan, then I will make a true Jell-O mold. Wish me luck.

Update!

2007-06-08T10:07:00.000-04:00

Well, the 24 hour curing period has passed, and I have extracted the dice. It is obvious that I closed the molds too quickly, and had not allowed the air bubbles to escape. I am too used to quick setting materials. Other than that, the dice just need a little polishing. The molds captured far more detail than I thought. All of the numbers are there, the weight of the dice is about right, and they roll really well.

My only other qualm is in the color. I was trying to make an opaque brown die with a litlle bit of metallic tint in order to achieve a dark copper tint. Oh well.

My molds were nearly destroyed, and I can only consider one still usable, since I did not think about extracting them from their housing when I made them. I cannot wait to make that compound I mentioned in my last post, though I do not need the 20 pound block they were making.

Molds

2007-06-07T12:50:00.000-04:00

I think I found my new molding compound. Not only is it home made and permanent, but it can also be remelted and reused. SWEET!

Now cost of mold making will be greatly reduced, especially since I don't have to throw away my mistakes, and it pours instead of brushing or pressing.

http://www.make-stuff.com/formulas/flexmold.html

The Good and the Bad

2007-06-07T11:46:00.000-04:00

Well, my first test dice are sitting in their molds right now. It should take a day or so for them to harden, and we'll see if it worked. I am doing a standard d6 and a mini d20.

That is the good, the bad goes like this:

The hardener for my resin has turned yellow. That means I have to buy more if I want to make clear dice. Or I could master the resin that uses a catalyst. I prefer casting epoxy because it is a one to one ratio. I alway mess up with the other one. Though I can adjust it to harden faster, and time is money, I usually end up with a cracking yellow piece.

Also, my molds don't seem to have captured as much detail as I would like. But these are only test molds, and I can always see if I can detail the dice more later. I need to figure out how to get my hands on some better pouring mold compund.

Hello All

2007-06-07T10:07:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to announce that this is going to be my new default blog. I have changed a lot since my last one went up, and in the year that it has been inactive. I am going to leave it up, but that is about it.

I am not one to record what is going on in my life, but I have found that I work better when people know of my projects, so this is where I will discuss project ideas. Feel free to comment.

The projects I am working on include making dice, making custom card sleeves, a play by post forum, getting some more vending machines, and my own ccg and rpg. Can you tell that I am a gamer yet? Since that list is up, anyone who is interested can bug me to keep up with them.