iPad and Field Trips

iPad use on a school trip to the British Museum.

Last term my year five class went on a trip to the British Museum to expand their knowledge about the Ancient Greeks.  I know from going on this trip before that the talk that is provided by the British Museum staff is very interesting and engaging, but if you do not give the children a focus when going the around the galleries they pass by and take little notice of exhibits.

The children used the iPad’s to focus their attention on different objects that they found in the galleries.  The class using keynote produced a presentation as they went around the museum.  In each of the rooms we went in I gave them a focus, they then took a picture of an artefact placed that onto a slide and used the information from the cabinet to add bullet pointed information.  By doing this the children had a readymade presentation by the time they had left the British Museum.  But we did take some time to tidy them up back in class; this just gave their work a final polish.

In my opinion the use of iPad’s on a school trip is workable.  They are light enough to carry five in your bag ready to be issued when you arrive.  The children enjoyed their use and they could all work with them in a group.  They provided a structured and focused way to keep the children interested and for the children to have some new knowledge about real Ancient Greek artefacts rather than just memories of lunch, the shop and the train.

Check back to look at the work they produced.

Mr Frith

Hero Tower Defense Thursday: Day 36 - Current Progress! Community Request: Crafting!

Want to get the legendary dogs? Shiny Mew? or any other shiny pokemon in the game? Adopt them today using SnD coins! Click here for more info.

Welcome to Hero Tower Defense Thursday!

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Go here to read Day 35 of Hero Tower Defense Thursday.

Play Hero Tower Defense!

There won't be a release this week because Sam had some finals to study for but everyone has been working on things that'll be in the next update. Now that we have several artists helping us out we should be able to start adding more content each release. Loot drops, equipment/inventory saving, and character progression are soon to come along with some other things. We've also been researching more ways to improve performance and prepare for other platforms.

Some other changes we may be making is increasing the available unit placements for the heroes. Most unavailable spaces would just be blocked by some sort of environmental obstacle or away from the edges to prevent some other issues. However, there will also be another layer of placements to accommodate non-grounded units like flying pets or a hero with a levitation effect on them. This will allow for more variation and strategy which is always nice.

Another topic of discussion lately has been crafting/trade skills/professions (whatever you want to call them) and how they could work. We plan to have a lot of flexibility when it comes to changing the customization of your heroes. For example, you'll be able to change their hair color and hairstyle by doing something simple such as going to a nearby town. You'll also be able to alter the look and stats of your weapons through blacksmithing (either in town or perhaps through one of your characters). So say you have a sword with good stats and then you find a cooler looking sword later on that you like but it doesn't have very good stats, or vice versa. You could use a blacksmith to change your current sword to look like the other sword. So now you have a sword with the same stats but it has the new look. There may be some limitation to this in that it has to be the same type, e.g. a sword to a sword, not a sword to mace. The same could be used for customizing the way your armor looks.

Of course, you'll also be able to gather materials and create weapons from scratch. This would probably work like your typical RPG and allow you to break down other items to gain materials. Also, you'll likely acquire rare materials from bosses and quests that could lead to more powerful items.

we're throwing around some other ideas for crafting but I'm curious to hear from you guys about what you'd like to see or any ideas you might have. So leave us some of your suggestions in the comments and we'll be sure to check them out, thanks!

In the Works:

Design

• Story: Intro - Scene 1 (10%)
• Pet System (50%)

Graphics

• Inventory Screen (0%)
• Skill Selection Screen (0%)
• Light Skill: Radiate (Native) (10%)
• Light Skill: Shinning Strike(T1 Physical) (10%)
• Light Skill: Fleeting Light (T1 Magical) (10%)
• Unit: Fire Gecko - Movement (100%)
• Weapon: Edged Boomerang (100%)
• Weapon: Tall Axe (100%)
• Weapon: Boomerang (100%)
• Weapon: Spiked Club (100%)
• Weapon: Claw Knife (100%)
• Weapon: Basic Crossbow (100%)
• Weapon: Flintlock (100%)

Programming

• Saving Inventory and Equipment Setup (0%)

Check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for HTD art-related concepts, WIPs, polls, and more!

Let us hear any of your crafting ideas or other suggestions in the comments, all feedback is welcome!


-Dan

The Battle of Numantia 214 BC (part 1)

Scrotivius wrote:

"At Numantia the Romans took a strong position atop a long hill and awaited the arrival of Hasdrubal....

.....Hasdrubal came with so large an army that it seemed to fill the eastern horizon." 

The Romans are outnumbered nearly 2 : 1.

Scrotivius continues:

"The Romans clung to their hill......."















 ".....and allowed the Carthaginians to come on."

Scrotivius then tells us of the gallant Roman cavalry which, in a long and complex action, managed to throw the Carthaginian right into confusion.

The Carthaginians threw the kitchen sink at them; Spanish cavalry; elephants; infantry. The Romans were victorious until, finally, their luck ran out and they were routed.



On the Carthaginian left another, more equal, cavalry contest took place and Hasdrubal's infantry began an assault on the hill.

 Three shots of the action.

On the Roman left, the Carthaginian spearmen, elephants and Numidians began to envelop the flank.

The 'besieged' Romans, in triplex acies, cling grimly to their long hill.


Note: Before the battle I changed the scenery a little.

Tape it - Now available on the App Store!

Tape everything, tape them fast, tape them in style and get combos to maximize your score!

"Tape it" is a unique original and very innovative game.

The objective of the game is to score as many points as possible by sticking with tape the broken shapes that pass through the screen at certain points. More points will be rewarded by making combos.

The tape has limited size so you will have to perfectly tape each shape to increase your tape size and the combo meter. Run out of tape and it's game over!

Swipe your finger across the screen to tape the moving shapes. Avoid the 'X' spots on the shapes or you will lose your current combo and 500 Points!

Two modes are available to choose from. Arcade and Panic Mode.

Unlock cool new tapes and amazing backgrounds by completing specific challenges.

I am a shipping fool!

All orders have been shipped!

(One order is waiting on an e-check to clear but is ready to go...)

I just wanted to say thank you and let you know the pewter miniature sale will continue through this week on all in-stock mini's.

I hope to get a few more 15mm Leviathans in stock but I do not have an exact date or qty on the remaining outstanding orders from my caster.

15mm Scale Leviathan Crusader

I will be updating my store this weekend to add these to inventory. These are limited edition (100 models maximum but more likely 60 total kits) I have 39 on hand and these may be the only 5.5" Leviathans that will ever be produced!

New products have been entered into the store! you can see them here!

To celebrate this release, I am offering 30% off all in stock pewter miniatures!!!!

 enjoy!

I Have:
39 Crusaders  (base kit as shown)

10 Left leg advancing leg kits (kit comes with right leg advancing)
12 Left hand Vulkan cannons (kit comes with right hand cannon)

18 Capacitor cooler sets (replaces stacks on back )

14 right twist waist hydraulics (kit comes with neutral twist)
12 left twist waist hydraulics (kit comes with neutral twist)

6 Left hand Mauler claws (optional weapon)
7 Right hand Mauler claws (optional weapon)

(NOTE)These will be fairly easy to assemble but you will thank yourself if you have a dremel as the tolerances are very tight on some parts like the arms and spine and stack tops. You can make quick work with a power tool but it can be done by hand if need be. Simply use the assembled pics above and if you get stuck, see below....

Here you can see an unboxing of uncleaned raw parts randomly chosen from stock on hand. There may be some small bubbles here and there but overall these are good castings with fairly thin flash. The problem areas seem to be the fit of some components due to the tolerances being to tight and some thick flash between the upper barrel and the support bar on the Vulkan. Please note, I have pulled out the worst parts and kept the best. I cannot have more made as the caster and I have parted ways. Please be careful building your kit as there will be no replacement parts!

Senji Studios knocks it out of the park!

I have been remiss in posting... Pat sent me some pics of his painted Leviathans and I have been to busy to get to it. Sorry Pat!

Here we see two wonderfully painted Leviathans, courtesy of Pat O over at Senji Studios
I love the details Pat added to these, weathering, script work and kill markings :)

The first, a Brotherhood Mortis

The next, a Eisenkern Crusader

Awesome work brother! You should head on over to see more pics of these and other incredible work, Senji Studios.

The Battle of Arpi (part 2) and its aftermath.....

Scrotivius writes of the battle.

"The Roman right continued its advance towards the open flank of Hannibal's army and caused great fear and consternation amongst his commanders...... 

".....pinning the Africans to their 'hairy hill'......"

"...but, on the Roman left, the Romans were not so lucky, for the Gauls had rallied and began their onslaught anew....."

"....surrounding the Romans there, and slaughtering them en masse...."

"...The sound of the relentless murder carried to the rest of the field, the  courage of the Romans failed them, and they began to withdraw......

 "....but, the fighting had been so fierce, and the Carthaginian cavalry so scattered, that a determined pursuit was not possible...."  

At the end of turn 4, I gave Peter the option to make an uncontested withdrawal.

This hard fought battle was deemed to be an 8 (H: R Vs C) turn battle with a no adjustment attrition roll. Marcellus withdrew to Rome. Hannibal had lost 2 CU in the battle; Marcellus lost 5 CU in the battle and retreat.

During the next part of the campaign turn another small action occurred. Nero dashed down to Croton forcing Mago to battle. This was not a big battle and the H: R Vs C system was used to resolve it. both sides lost 2 CU, Mago was displaced.

The year 215 BC ended with this situation after the playing of the above cards.

The campaign turn (turn 5) starting 214 BC began with Fabius Maximus and Titus Longus elected to the consulship. Marcellus was, for his effort in 215, made pro-consul. Fabius was sent to Spain.

Cards were played as follows. 

Fabius made an advance into the interior of Spain.

H. Gisgo landed on Sicily with a small army.

Fearing Fabius would deprive Carthage of more Spanish allies Hasdrubal moved to intercept him at Numantia. Sharp diplomacy, "Spanish Allies Desert", deprived Fabius of his new Spanish friends before battle was joined.

The Battle of Numantia: Hasdrubal 11 CU versus Fabius 6 CU. As the battle takes place in Spain I have decided to use arid terrain, for a change.