Showing posts with label GoDice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GoDice. Show all posts

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Health News & More

   My GoDice arrived a short while back. I got the 6 dice set that came with a charging base, dice tube and tablet/smartphone stand. Along with it, I ordered a set of D&D dice shells with bag, USB charging port, folding dice tray and dice cup. I've installed the GoDice app on my smartphone. Once I charge the dice, I can connect them to my phone via the app. Using the app and the D&D shells, I can create a set of RPG dice. The RPG calculator function allows me to roll attack, damage and saving throws with the necessary modifiers when I'm gaming. All the rolls are recorded on my phone and I can get the total damage rolled for spells like fireball etc.. 

  The GoDice have to be put into the shells in a specific orientation in order for them to function correctly. When separated, you'll see a number 5 on the inside of one shell half and a 2 on the inside of the other half. Below each of these numbers is a small number 1. You put the selected die into its shell by orienting the die so the 5 face is inserted into the shell half with the 5 in it and the 2 shell half covers the 2 face of the die. The 1 face of the die must be facing the edge with the 1. Each shell half has 4 small magnets in it. 3 are shiny and 1 is black. When you put the shell halves together, the black magnets are paired with each other. You then use the app to pair a particular die with the shell you put it in. The d4, d8 and d12 use a 24 sided shell while the d10, d% and d20 use a 20 sided shell. Each die has different colored pips in order to tell them apart. The app also has a function that allows you to light up a particular die by touching a button.

  I bought a large 9 compartment dice bag on eBay. I'm using it to organize some of my dice. About 7 complete sets of RPG dice are in one compartment. All of my odd sided dice (d5s, d7s etc.) are in another compartment. My random encounter dice set, Dice of Death of Death & Dismemberment, Dice Coins and my set of ability score, attack, defense and saving throw bonus/penalty marking cubes occupy most of the other compartments. When the second wave of my Death & Dismemberment dice arrive, they'll fill up the remaining two compartments.

  On the health front, I had a stress test on the 17th. The preliminary results indicate that I have a dilated aorta. It's at 4 cm right now. At this point, monitoring it via echocardiograms is necessary. If it doesn't dilate further, nothing needs to be done. However, should it dilate to 5 cm or more, surgery will have to be done. I wore a Holter monitor for 48 hours. It collected data that now has to be analyzed to determine how well my heart is functioning. I turned it in to the Aurora Cardiac Diagnostics Center this past Friday. It will take about a week to get the results back.

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Christmas Update

   I'm presently enjoying a quiet Christmas here at home watching John Wick 3. The first wave of the Dice of Death & Dismemberment (DoD&D) Kickstarter arrived a while back as did the Triple Hex Dice. The original base set the DoD&D had two torso dice and no arm die. I informed the seller and they said they'd correct matters. I thought they would send out the missing die and I would send back the extra torso die. Instead, they sent me two arm dice, a head and a leg die. Now I have two basic sets of DoD&D along with a complete set of stretch goal dice. The second wave is due to be sent out in February.

  The Triple Hex dice sets cover the entire RPG dice range. The d100 Hex Die is just a d100. It came with two identical sets of dice disks along with extra washers. The other two Hex Dice sets have interchangeable dice disks. What dice disks you put inside the frame depends on what die you want to roll. Both of them also came with extra dice disks and washers.

  I've finalized my Orbidice order. I went with a Forge Engine Steampunk RPG set with an Orbitray dice tower. The GoDice pre-production has happened. Some issues were discovered and need to be ironed out before mass production can begin. That being said, progress is being made. The Free Man Game, based on The Prisoner British TV series, is being printed and should be mailed out soon.

  I ran a Chi-squared test on my d4 and d6 Hexacubes. Both passed easily. I won't bore you with a complete layout of the data. At some point, I'll likely test the other dice and see how well they perform. From what James tells me, the d10 and d12 have the least amount of redundancy but both should still perform better than a standard d10 and d12.

  It's one week until New Year's Day. I have New Year's Eve and New Year's Day off. I'm hoping to spend that time playing boardgames with my friends over at Glenn's house but I haven't heard anything yet.

  I'm still working closing shifts at work. Hopefully, they'll hire more people and I'll go back to earlier shifts. All the standing I do at work is hard on my legs. I sometimes get pains behind my right knee. I've been filling out the pension documents the union has been sending me. I'm not sure if I can get my pension now or not. It says that I can receive my pension at either 60, 62 or 65 depending on the plan. I'll have to call the pension office and get some questions answered before I can proceed.


Sunday, November 14, 2021

Health Info Among other Things

   My endocrinologist has added Farxiga (Dapagliflozin 5mg) to my diabetes medications. I have to lower my insulin intake from 26 to 16 units. There is the possibility that the Farxiga and Trulicity regiment can get me off of the insulin. I've edited the MyIHR site and my eMedtag flash drives to reflect these changes.

  On 10-23-19 at 3:41 am, I backed the Hexacube Kickstarter. On 11-6-21 at 12:11 pm my order finally arrived. For the record, that's 745 days, 8 hours and 30 minutes. The dice turned out fine and I'm happy with my order. While the pandemic was largely to blame for the order arriving so late, other factors were at work as well. James contacted several different dice manufacturers to create the dice and while they were happy to take his money, they were reluctant to manufacture the dice to the proper specifications. The dice samples they turned out were below standards. James wanted to create dice that were less biased that conventional RPG dice. Some said that they couldn't make the needed molds. How hard is it to make a chamfered cube shaped mold? Could it be that they couldn't get the relative sizes of the square and hexagonal faces set correctly? If you want more info regarding how Hexacubes function, use the link provided above.

  I've downloaded the .PDF version of Dungeon Bitches and a tentative timetable has been set for the release of the print version as well as the .PDF supplements. The GoDice people have received their chips and can start the pre-production of 1,200 smart dice. This will allow them to optimize their production methods and detect and fix any risks and problems before full scale mass production commences. If all goes well, the GoDice could start shipping by Jan. 22nd.

  I have to mail in my pension papers to the union and get that process initiated. There's still one question I have so I have to contact the union and get some answers.

Monday, August 16, 2021

Personal Shit

   The Hexacubes are in America. The ship docked in Los Angeles a few days ago. At present, US Customs has to clear the shipment so it can be sent to the warehouse to be checked for damage. After that, it will be sent to James for distribution to the backers. It's taken nearly 2 years, but the end in finally in sight.

  The GoDice Kickstarter has been delayed due to a lack of semi-conductors. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon. I've backed the Dice of Death and Dismemberment Kickstarter. The project is already fully funded and two additional stretch goal dice (Which Finger Did You Lose? and Arrow critical dice) have been unlocked. At $11,800, the Vorpal die gets unlocked. They're planning on having dice bags as add-ons. The dUltimate Kickstarter hasn't started yet. The Kickstarter pre-launch page is here.

  I've seen Black Widow in the theater and The Suicide Squad and Snyder cut of Justice League on HBOMax. Other than that, not much has been going on. Looks like it will be another nothing summer. Gen Con's not until September but I can't go this year. The Ren Faire won't be possible either. I'm hoping to get back to gaming soon. Life's been way too boring lately.