Watch as two balls, who play the role of two brothers, go to the rescue of their third brother who’s been trapped by a big and evil black ball. One of the most entertaining thing I’ve seen this week!
[Via Neatorama]
Dragonfire Is a New D&D Deckbuilding Game
The makers of Shadowrun are producing a cooperative deckbuilder with the Dungeons & Dragons licence. Dragonfire aims to bridge the gap between tabletop games and RPGs, a sometimes tricky task.
The game – which doesn’t yet have a release date — is based on the core engine of Shadowrun: Crossfire, though makers Catalyst Game Labs say it’s made extensive changes to better fit the D&D world. Their description is “You’ll recognize it but it’ll be a fresh, fun experience to enjoy on its own.”
It’s set in the Forgotten Realms world that will be familiar to D&D lovers, with the base game set in the Sword Coast. Future expansions will move the story on to other locations, but these will be optional extra adventures rather than it being a collectible card game.
The $60 base game includes:
- Dungeon 1 Encounters Deck
- Dungeon 2 Encounters Deck
- Wilderness 1 Encounters Deck
- City 1 Encounters Deck
- Adventurers 2 Encounter Deck
- Market Deck
- Magic Items Deck
- Character cards
- Adventure cards
- Adventure booklet
- Sticker Sheets
- Tokens
- Plastic Clips
- Rulebook
It appears the base game will be more of a traditional deckbuilder where you start from scratch every time you play. There’ll be multiple expansions available at launch, some of which will simply be additional cards, and some of which will include “a new adventure that will advance the storyline.” In the long term, there’ll be “campaign boxes that will not only provide additional materials to enjoy, but will move forward the meta-plot adventure that will weave through Dragonfire.”
That suggests characters could be carried over from one game to another and suffer long-term effects from game to game, though the precise mechanism hasn’t been unveiled. One possibility would be for players to literally keep the same deck from one game to another, which could be unwieldy. Another is that players could maintain character sheets and track characters improving stats, as in a traditional RPG, then have those stats affect the size and balance of the starting deck they draw in the next game.
As with D&D, players will select a race and class for their character. It’s not yet known if that will simply affect starting stars and special powers, or if it will affect the makeup of the starting deck.
Office Purrsonnel [Comic]
Nerdy Nummies: How to Make Star-Lord’s Mixtape Cookies [Video]
In this episode of Nerdy Nummies, show host Rosanna Pansino shows us how to make mixtape cookies in honor of the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Check it out!
John Boyega Photobombs Star Wars Fans at Star Wars Celebration 2017 [Video]
To promote the “Star Wars Force for Change” charity at Star Wars Celebration, John Boyega photobombed unsuspecting fans during a photoshoot. Needless to say, all fans were massively surprised and overjoyed by the surprise.
By donating to the charity you get a chance to win one of three epic Star Wars experiences. Be sure to check it out at the link below!
[Star Wars force for change: Win the Three Most Epic Star Wars Experiences Ever]
Horrifying Footage of a Prop Baby and Man Being Inflated [Videos]
Are you ready for this? Here’s two short videos featuring props that are being inflated, one of a rubber baby and one of a Mark Dacascos puppet head from Cradle 2 the Grave. You might think this sounds funny, but in reality, it’s a part of what nightmare fuel is made of.
And here’s the video of the Mark Dacascos puppet head:
[Via Nerdist]
World of Warcraft as an Oldschool NES Game [Video]
DEAL: Own the GOOD Ghost in the Shell for just $7.99 on Blu-Ray
I haven’t seen the new Ghost in the Shell starring Scarlett Johannson yet, but apparently, it’s pretty bad. However, one thing I do know is that the anime based on the manga is pretty darn good, and you can own it on blu-ray for just $7.99 on Amazon right now.
2029 A female government cyber agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of The Puppet Master – a computer virus capable of invading cybernetic brains and altering its victim’s memory. Created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and codenamed Project 2501, this ‘hacker’ is actually a prototype virtual agent which has now defied its makers by seeking asylum within a new host body outside of the electronic net. Now the two agencies must maneuver against each another in a violent, high-tech race to capture the omnipresent entity. Ghost in the Shell took the world by storm exhibiting a new dimension of anime with unprecedented and mesmerizing cinematic expression.
–Ghost in the Shell: 25th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] – $7.99
Very Hungry Caterpillar Degrade Plastic at Record Speed
By Rasbak – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17658614
Researchers have found a type of caterpillar can breakdown one of the world’s most common plastics much faster than previously seen. It could be a step towards dealing with water pollution.
The creature in question is a waxworm, the caterpillar larvae of a wax moth and an enemy of beekeepers as it’s a parasite in bee hives. Newsweek notes that chicken embryos researcher Federica Betocchini happens to be a beekeeper and was recently cleaning a hive and removed some waxworms, putting them in a plastic bag. Later she discovered they had eaten their way to freedom.
She tipped off plastic biodegradation experts Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe at Cambridge University. They carried out a study and found that the waxworms are able to digest polyethylene, which makes up around 40 percent of the plastics worldwide and is most commonly used for plastic packaging, bags and bottles. It’s particularly resistant to degradation because of its long carbon chains.
While some bacteria and fungi are known to be able to break down polyethylene, this can take between three and seven months to get started and then proceed at a very slow rate. Bombelli and Howe found that a waxworm can make its first hole in around forty minutes and then ramp up to around three holes every hour.
The study suggested the waxworms digest the polyethelene and produce a byproduct of ethylene glycol, which is commonly used for producing polyesters and antifreeze.
While dumping millions of waxworms into the oceans to eat up the discarded plastic isn’t exactly a practical possibility, the researchers believe that learning more about how they are able to break down the plastic could help future anti-pollution measures.
The most likely explanation is that the waxworms house microbes in their stomachs that carry out the degradation, making the waxworms prepared to eat the plastic in a way other creatures wouldn’t. It’s also possible there’s an evolutionary coincidence at work because the plastic has some similarities to waxy products found in beehives.
A NES Style version of Zelda Breath of the Wild [Video + Demo]
From Micropig Gaming:
I’m working hard on the next version of Breath of the NES, my Zelda fangame 😊 Now including a ton of graphical improvements and gameplay improvements! If you prefer a classic NES style look, though all of the visual effects can be turned off!
I’m also currently looking for some help doing pixel art and music for the game. Please contact me on twitter if you can help.