Happy Halloween!

Some incredible pumpkin carvings...

Have a fun and safe All Hallows Eve!

Rust Forge is having a sale!

I was popping in on TTGN, as I tend to do at least twice a day and noticed Rust Forge was having a sale.

Rust Forge sells cargo containers, barriers and other plastic goodness, some items such as the containers are manufactured by Proxie Models. These are two small companies that could use a little boost about now. If you have a bit of spare cash and need some great plastic accessories, head on over and help support a couple of great guys.

Back to the Story! Goldenrod's conclusion!

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

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Welcome to the Sam and Dan Games Developer Blog!

Sam and Dan Games: Fundraiser! Phase 3


Help us keep making games and earn awesome prizes like Shiny Rayquaza, Cosmoid Starters for PTD 2 and Shiny Heatran!  
Our Goal: $50,000

Back to the Story! Goldenrod's conclusion!
We got the new server up and running! Hopefully things are running smoothly for all of you. This is a nice step in the right direction but it is not perfect yet. It took roughly two weeks to move everything over and transfer all the data. I had to do it alone so my apologies for the long delay between significant updates. At the very least I wanted to make sure you guys got Mystery Gifts and giveaways.

On a side note the Funding reached 20% wooo! Pretty soon I'll be adding more prizes but for now I will focus on PTD2 since we had 2 weeks of no new content.

So like the title of the blog says we will be concluding Goldenrod City this update. You will finish off Team Rocket and open of the poke mart which will have a large amount of new items to buy. It will also open up the other places even though some of them you won't be able to enter due to the destruction Team Rocket caused.

Percentage Damage Moves Change
There will be a change in how damage in moves like Fire Spin, Leech Seed, and statuses like Burn and Poison works. Instead of being based on a certain attack power they will be based on a percentage of health of the tower doing the attack. The reason it's based on the tower doing the attack instead of the target like the game is that if it's based on the target it will either do too much damage (like on bosses) or too little damage (when battling low level enemies). As an example Leech Seed will now do 1/8 of your total health as damage to the enemy instead of what it does currently. This should make these moves and statuses stronger than they are now.

Mystery Gift
Like every week we will have a Mystery Gift and a giveaway. This week Ground won and right now Hippopota and Numel are in the lead!

Lastly I want to give the first 50 people that read this a special giveaway for shiny Larvitar! The code is.... larvitar All larvitar have been taken! Thanks guys!

Weekly Progress

PTD2 v1.58 - Mystery Gift! Route 35, National Park, Route 36, and Route 37! Released!

• Mystery Gift (100%) - Poison Type (Venipede and Stunky)
• Graphics (100%)
• Stats (100%)
• Evolutions (100%)
• Add to Breeding Center (100%)
• Add to Trading Center (100%)
• Game Change (100%) - Capturing a pokemon will now give you experience.
• Bug Fix 1 (100%) - Goldenrod Cutscene not triggering after the fight when you haven't beat it before.
• Bug Fix 2 (100%) - Pokemon can no longer spawn on top of other pokemon or objects that prevent them from moving.
• Bug Fix 3 (100%) - You now have to beat the Azalea Gym before leaving to the next part.
• New Pokemon (100%) - Yanma, Yanmega, Sunkern, Sunflora, Sudowoodo, Stantler
• Graphics (100%)
• Stats (100%)
• Evolutions (100%)
• New Ability (100%)
• Sap Sipper (100%)
• Add To Breeding Center (100%)
• Add To Trading Center (100%)
• Route 35 (100%)
• Trainer Battle (100%)
• Map Background (100%)
• Wild Pokemon Waves (100%)
• Pokemon Map Behavior (100%)
• Nidorans (100%)
• Growlithe (100%)
• Yanma (100%) 
• National Park (100%)
• Map Background (100%)
• Map Music (100%)
• Wild Pokemon Waves (100%)
• Pokemon Map Behavior (100%)
• Scyther (100%)
• Pinsir (100%)
• Sunkern (100%)
• Trainer Battle (100%)
• Route 36 (100%)
• Map Background (100%)
• Wild Pokemon Waves (100%)
• Pokemon Map Behaviour (100%)
• Vulpix (100%)
• Stantler (100%)
• Sudowoodo Battle (100%)
• Route 37 (100%)
• Map Background (100%)
• Wild Pokemon Waves (100%)
• Trainer Battle (100%)

PTD2 v1.57 - A meeting with Giovanni - Released!

• Story Movie Scene (100%) - Made by Joel
• Game Chance 1 (100%) - You will now get +1 pokedollar after every battle, including non trainer battles.
• Bug Fix 1 (100%) - Fixed sometimes not being able to give a pokemon an item when they haven't taken damage.
• Bug Fix 2 (100%) - Enemy pokemon, since they had boosted HP, were doing burn and poison damage that was too high. The damage has been normalize as if they had the same hp boost as the player's pokemon.
• New Attacks (100%)
• Focus Blast (100%)
• Flash (100%) - Can only affect enemies. Lowers their accuracy by one level.
• Poke Center (100%)
• Poke Mart (100%)
• Item Menu (100%)
• New Items (100%) - X Sp. Attack, X Sp. Defense, X Accuracy, Guard Spec, Dire Hit, Revive, Full Heal, Burn Heal, Ice Heal.
• New TMs (100%) - Flash, Protect, False Swipe, Light Screen, Reflect, SolarBeam, Focus Blast, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Rock Smash.

PTD2 v1.56.1 - Mystery Gift Released!

• Mystery Gift (100%) - Ground Type (Hippopotas and Numel)
• Graphics (100%)
• Stats (100%)
• Evolutions (100%)
• Add to Breeding Center (100%)
• Add to Trading Center (100%)
• Attack Percentage Change (100%)
• Confused damage will be based on a 40 power typeless physical attack done by the pokemon that is confused to itself (100%)
• The attack Outrage will now work similar to Thrash and Petal Dance (100%) - The confusion status will not be applied until the attack has been used 10 times.

PTD2 v1.56 - Executive Fight Released!

• Team Rocket Fight (100%)
• Hilarious Dialog (100%)
• Battle Design (100%)
• Battle Layout (100%)
• Battle Waves (100%)
• New Attacks (100%)
• Houndoom's Flamethrower (100%)

PTD2 v1.55.3 - Released!

• Mystery Gift (100%) - Rock Type (Tirtouga and Dwebble)
• Graphics (100%)
• Stats (100%)
• Evolutions (100%)
• New Abilities (100%)
• Solid Rock (100%)
• New Attacks (100%)
• Rock Wrecker (100%)
• Add to Breeding Center (100%)
• Add to Trading Center (100%)

That's what I have for you this week, keep checking back to see how I'm doing! As always let me know what you think!

Off table battery markers

Those who know me will tell you that I have an aversion to war gaming paperwork. Writing things up on a blog is one thing, having to look things up on a roster sheet during a game is quite another. It is why I make so many markers and counters. 

Recently my mind turned to off board artillery markers. Up until very recently I've been using 15mm stuff that has been placed, on- table, on pieces of red card to mark its off board status. It works well enough except for three things. Firstly, most heavy artillery is not available in 15mm (and why should it be as it will seldom, if ever, get used on-table). Secondly it has a large footprint and takes up too much room. Thirdly, even if it were available, it would take an excessive amount of time and money for its gaming value - cost benefit.

I was thinking of using pictures mounted on thickish card and so forth, then I suddenly remembered previous forays into WW2 in 10mm and 1:300 scale. A light went on.

I googled Heroics and Ros. http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/heroics/pdf/webcat.pdf

Immediately thereafter ordered the guns I needed - some of which are pictured above alongside my 15mm stuff. Their range is not universal, but it has a good deal of the more common heavy stuff. It is also very cheap - £0.40 a gun and crew - and Andy Kirk is a pleasure to deal with.

I decided to paint and base them purely as markers - which took out lots of work - and I think they fit the bill perfectly. It will not be a new idea, but I think it is a good one and worth repeating. A very small corner of the field will be forever off-table.

GTA V Tutorial: Fly anywhere under the map. Hunting for secrets!

This is a very simple tutorial for Grand Theft Auto V where you will be able to fly with the Buzzard helicopter anywhere under the map.
If you find anything "special" under there or if you find this tutorial useful please mention my name (Sakis25) for helping you out.



1. Go to this location:


2. Get closer to the parking door


3. You can jump over the door through that part:


3. Use the Super Jump cheat or jump on a truck. The floor is invisible but you can walk on it.


4. Use the Spawn Buzzard cheat to drop the helicopter in front of you


5. Carefully fly to the right and go under the visible areas


That's it! Now you can fly anywhere you want.
Do not fly too low or else you will be respawn on the roads again.
I will suggest you to create a new quick save file so you will not have to repeat all this again.
What do you think?

FAUX NEWS UPDATE… Utah hit hard by Eisenkern Forces!

Earth Defense Forces overwhelmed by new class of Leviathan and heavy weapons systems.

 

Stage two is shipping!

 

Most customers in the Pacific Rim countries have already received their goodies. Wargames factory kindly footed the air bill to get the backers their items ASAP. They are also shipping stage 1 and 2 to those customers with stage three items who chose ship when complete for all their items! Thank you WGF!

The air shipment has arrived in Utah and Wargames Factory has begun shipping to overseas customers, followed shortly by domestic orders. The entire shipping process will likely take five days.

A cargo container for non Kickstarter backers (retail release) is on the water and expected early to mid November.

 

Items for stage 2 release:

15mm Scale Leviathan Crusader (4.5” tall)

 

28mm Scale Leviathan Mortis (8.5” tall)

 

Beowulf/Grendel - Artillery/Siege Gun

 

H.E.L Cannon

Ripper Saw

 

Mauler Claw- left and right arm versions

 

Nova Cannon

New Server Setup, Working Behind the Scenes

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

Visit the PTD: Pokemon Center - a place to trade pokemon, get your Daily Code, adopt Pokemon, view your items and change your avatar!

Welcome to the Sam and Dan Games Developer Blog!

Sam and Dan Games: Fundraiser! Phase 3
Help us keep making games and earn awesome prizes like Shiny Rayquaza, Cosmoid Starters for PTD 2 and Shiny Heatran!  
Our Goal: $50,000

New Server Setup
We got the new server last week but this week it's all about setting it up. The process of setting it up starts with transferring all the files over to the new server. After that all the databases have to be recreated and all the data from the old database needs to be moved over to the new one. This means that there will be a day or a couple of days that the trading center will be down while I make all the transfers. This also means that I need to spend a large amount of time making sure everything is working as it should and so there won't be a big content update for ptd2 this week.

Mystery Gift
There will be a mystery gift and a giveaway as always. This week Flying won the poll and it looks like woobat and rufflet are winning so far Rufflet and Emolga won! Keep the votes coming!

Working Behind the Scenes
We got some fun Cosmoid related things coming in the horizon. The artists, Joel, Evan and Kevin, are all hard at work on different projects and I hope that soon enough we will start rolling out the first one of them. I hope that I can work hard and fast to bring you these things as soon as possible.

Weekly Progress

PTD2 Trading Center Update Completed!

• New Server Setup for Trading Center (100%)
• Transferring the php files (100%)
• PTD 2 Side (100%)  - 50 different pages
• PTD 1 Side (100%) - Over 50 different pages
• Your Trade Request Page will now be ordered by most request to least request (100%) - This will become active after the new server is set up.
• PTD2 - Pokemon will no longer evolve during trades if they are holding an Everstone (100%) - This will become active after the new server is set up.
• Accepting a trade offer will now put the Pokemon in your Pickup area instead of your profile (100%) - This will become active after the new server is set up.
• Seperated the 1-2 Cost Trainer Adoption pages into two pages (100%) - This will become active after the new server is set up.
• Optimizing the old files for better performance (100%)
• Reducing the amount of database calls on certain pages to increase performance (100%)
• PTD2 - Adding Transactions to Breeding, Trading, Adopting, etc (100%) - This will prevent pokemon from going missing after completing any of these task due to the server going down.
• Transferring Pokemon Center Database Data (100%)

PTD2 v1.55.2 Released!

• Mystery Gift (100%) - Rufflet and Emolga 
• Graphics (100%)
• Stats (100%)
• Evolutions (100%)
• New Abilities (100%)
• Motor Drive (100%)
• New Attacks (100%)
• Defog (100%)
• Volt Switch (100%)
• Add to Breeding Center (100%)
• Add to Trading Center (100%)
• Added Honchkrow to the Search Pages (100%)

That's what we have for you this week! Let me know what you want to see for next week update in the comments bellow or on twitter! Thanks!

Battle Report: Ecnomus 256 BC

 The Roman consuls lead the first two squadrons against the Carthaginian centre.

They are drawn towards Hamilcar like moths to a flame, and the rear of their line is caught by the Carthaginian left wing squadron as it advances towards the Roman rear.

First blood to Carthage.

The Romans press onward regardless, whilst, in their rear transports are cut loose and the Romans try to form some kind of defence against the ships on the Carthaginian's wings which are closing quickly.

The consuls and Hamilcar' squadron clash for the first time. The Roman corvus proves its worth, as two Carthaginian fives fall almost without a struggle.

But the consul led squadrons are being doubly enveloped. It is now a race to see who can take advantage first.

The Gods favour Carthage - Ba'alocks!

Most devastatingly on the left. Here, on a single cruise card, a Carthaginian vessel shatters one consul's ship and, carrying its momentum through the wreckage, comes close to sinking the other.  

In the Roman rear the ships of the Carthaginian left get in amongst the Roman ships, raking them as they do so.

The action is now two distinct and separate battles. The Romans van is being crushed. In the rear they are fighting back. Hanno hangs off the Roman quarter ready to pounce.

Then a minor miracle, the Carthaginian ships of the left wing fail a squadron morale test (Fire, Flee, Flood card at half strength) - they flee.

Hanno's ships enter the fray with a successful rake on several ships of the 'triarii'.

The Roman van is now almost completely destroyed and Hamilcar is sending ships to support the attack on the Roman rear.

Having successfully raked the Roman ships of the 'triarii' Hanno's squadron deftly moves and turns his ships to face the Roman rear.

But the Carthaginians have used up most of their move cards and the Romans retaliate before they can fully press their advantage

Hanno is sunk! Hanno's squadron is at half strength. Oh Neptune, give them a Fire Flee Flood card - fat chance.

The Romans begin to reorganise their rear.

They advance towards Hamilcar and prepare for the final stand.

Hamilcar initiates the final act. The battle begins again in earnest.

The Romans are outfought, rammed......

......and sunk!

Carthage wins!

As with most Fleet of Battle games, this action was fast and furious. It was also subject to the best die rolls I think I've ever seen Peter make. He didn't ram and hole me as usual - possibly giving me time to make repairs on seamanship cards - he shattered my timbers at every turn. As my consuls took their final drink of Old Briny, I bet they gurgled "There is something wrong with our galleys today."

We will do this all again next week, partly because I don't have time to set much else up at the moment, partly because it is great fun.

Ecnomus 256 BC scenario

At the outset of the First Punic War the Romans had not been at home at sea and barely had a navy to speak of.  As the war progressed, the Romans realised that a victory on land would be insufficient to win the war. The Carthaginians could always counter land victories with actions by her superior navy. In a huge change in Roman strategy Rome began to build fleets of ships with which to challenge Punic naval supremacy. The First Punic War became a war at sea. Both Rome and Carthage threw huge resources into the construction and manning of war galleys. At first the Roman effort met with a series of disasters. But, as the war progressed, and the Romans learnt the art of naval warfare and innovated it with the invention of the corvus [literally ‘raven’ - a long boarding ramp, with large iron spike, or beak, at its free end, that was mounted forward and that could be dropped to bridge the gap between two ships], the two sides gradually achieved something like parity in battle. 

In 256 BC Rome decided to escalate the war. Rome built and manned a huge fleet of 330 warships, mainly fives, to transport an army to Africa. It would be an expedition to end the war. The mission was so important to Rome that both consuls for the year would lead it. This fleet moved down the Italian coast, across the Straits of Messana, past Syracuse and round the Cape Pachynus, to link up at Ecnomus with the veteran legions which had been successfully prosecuting the war in Sicily. 

The Roman plans were not made in secret. Realising that their home territory was vulnerable to the planned invasion, the Carthaginians amassed a fleet to oppose it before it reached their ill defended shores. The Carthaginian fleet, 350 ships under the command of Hamilcar, sailed to Lilybaeum and proceeded south east until it came to Heracleia Minoa. 

The scene was set for one of the most important clashes of the war. With one side determined to sail an army of invasion to Africa; with one side determined to stop it; with both fleet in close proximity; the battle was inevitable. 

Roman Fleet Notes 

The Romans, not knowing precisely how the Carthaginians would react, deployed their fleet in an unusual but compact body that was capable of sailing to Africa or fighting a major battle. The fleet was divided into four squadrons. 

The first two were led by the consuls, Marcus Atilius Regulus on the right and Lucius Manilius Vulso on the left. Each deployed in a single file echeloned back so that together their squadrons formed a wedge. The consuls, in sixes, commanded the lead ship in each squadron. 

• Each: Squadron die D10. 
• 1 Six (flagship). Boarding skill: Veteran. Other skill: Trained. 
• 5 Heavy fives equipped with corvus. Boarding skill: Veteran. Other skill: Trained. 

Immediately behind these was the third and smallest squadron in the fleet. This squadron formed the base of the wedge. It was comprised of war galleys each towing a horse-transport that was incapable of moving under its own power. 

• Squadron die D10. 
• 4 Heavy fives. Boarding skill: Seasoned. Other skill: Trained. 
• 4 Transports (fives without rowers and marines). Boarding skill: Abysmal. Other skill: Abysmal. Transports are incapable of movement under their own power and count as disabled if cast adrift. 

Behind these, in line abreast formation, was yet another squadron of galleys. Within the fleet this squadron was called the ‘triarii’ and formed the fleet's reserve. 

• Squadron die D10. 
• 6 Heavy fives equipped with corvus. Boarding skill: Veteran. Other skill: Trained. 

Carthaginian Fleet Notes 

The Carthaginian fleet comprised three squadrons of unequal size. Initially they had advanced in line abreast formation but once they saw the Roman formation they quickly made a kink in their line. 

In the centre, the bulk of the Carthaginian fleet was arrayed facing the Romans in line abreast with wide spaces between the vessels. This made, to Roman eyes, the centre of the line look weak. These ships were commanded by Hamilcar who took position in the middle of the line. 

• Squadron die D10. 
• 12 Light fives. Boarding skill: Seasoned. Other skill: Trained. 

On the right of the line the Carthainians placed the best and fastest galleys in the fleet. This compact squadron was commanded by Hanno. 

• Squadron die D12. 
• 6 Light fives. Boarding skill: Seasoned. Other skill: Seasoned. 

On the left, a quarter of the fleet was set at an angle to the coast: “…posted so as to form a left wing which pointed towards the shore, at an angle to the main body and extending beyond it.” 

• Squadron die D10. 
• 6 Light fives. Boarding skill: Seasoned. Other skill: Trained.

The Battle 

For a description of the battle I will quote the translation in Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire. Penguin Classics: 

“The action began when the Romans, seeing that the Carthaginian line was only thinly held because of its great length, launched an attack on the centre. The ships in this sector had orders to give ground immediately in the hope of breaking up the Roman formation, and so they retired at a brisk speed hotly pursued by the Romans. The result was that while the first and second Roman squadrons chased after the retreating enemy, the third and fourth became separated….

When the Carthaginians judged that they had lured the first and second squadrons far enough away from the rest, a signal was hoisted on Hamilcar’s flagship and the whole Carthaginian force swung round at once and engaged their pursuers. The battle that followed was fiercely fought. The Carthaginians’ superior speed allowed them to sail around the enemy’s flank as well as to approach easily of beat a rapid retreat. But for their part the Romans were equally confident of victory; as soon as the vessels came to close quarters the contest became one of sheer strength, since their ‘ravens’ [corvus] grappled every ship the moment it arrived within striking distance….

Meanwhile Hanno, in command of the right wing, which had kept its distance when the Romans first attacked the centre, sailed across the open sea, attacked the squadron of the triarii and caused them much distress. At the same time the Carthaginian left, which had been posted near the shore, abandoned their original formation, deployed into line with their bows facing the enemy, and attacked the Roman squadron which was towing the horse-transports, whereupon these ships cast off their tow ropes and engaged the enemy…..

The outcome of these engagements was much as might have been expected….

Those who had first joined battle were also the first to break off, for Hamilcar’s squadron was finally driven back and took flight…..

Regulus, when he saw the struggle in which the triarii and horse-transports were engaged, hurried to the rescue with all the ships of the second squadron that were still able to fight….

It was then the Carthaginian’s turn to find themselves hard-pressed. They were attacked both from the front and the rear and discovered to their surprise that they were being encircled by the relieving force, and so finally gave way and retired towards the open sea. Meanwhile Manilus, who was now on his way back to the battle, saw that the third Roman squadron had been hemmed in by the Carthaginians close to the shore. Both he and Regulus…….

made all speed to relieve the pressure on their comrades who were in great danger. They were surrounded as effectively as if they were besieged….. 

So the two consuls came up rapidly, surrounded the Carthaginians in their turn and captured fifty ships…. 

The general outcome of the battle was in favour of the Romans. Twenty-four of their ships were sunk, but more than thirty of the Carthaginians. Not a single Roman ship was captured with its crew, but sixty-four Carthaginian vessels suffered this fate.” 

Scenario Designer Notes: 

Both fleets were mainly fives but there must have been many smaller ships in any fleets of this size. Because there is no record of how many smaller ships, or their deployment, I have chosen to ignore this fact and except for the Roman flagships (Polybius specifically states they were sixes) all ships are fives. 

This was a battle between two fleets that carried more marines than was generally the case; the Roman fives were carrying an army; the Carthaginians had manned their ships with every available man. Consequently, I have partly rated the boarding skills of vessels for the relative numbers of marines. 

I have assumed that the fives of the towing squadron would have a normal complement of marines (they are classed as seasoned accordingly) and no corvus. The extra weight would be a significant factor in the performance of their towing duty. The horse transports themselves would be carrying just enough crew to maintain the ship for the voyage and have been significantly down-rated to ‘abysmal’ to reflect this. Towing and towed ships count as crippled. If cast adrift horse-transports are disabled. I have chosen to use merchant ships to represent the horse-transports so that they are easily identifiable. 

Polybius says that, even though the marines were fairly equal in numbers, the Carthaginian ships were faster. The simplest way to represent this is to class the Carthaginian ships, despite the high number of marines, as light fives. 

The manning of these fleets was a huge effort and it would undoubtedly lead to a diminished level of training in most ships – especially the rowers. Because of this most ships have had their ramming, raking and seamanship skill down-rated from ‘seasoned’ to ‘trained’. 

Hanno’s squadron has a D12 squadron die because Polybius picks out its ships as being somewhat superior to the rest of the fleet. All other squadrons have a D10 squadron die because they were unremarkable. 

The Carthaginian plan to lure the Romans into attacking the centre must be built into the scenario if the game is to have any resemblance to the battle. Three special events cards should be added to the Carthaginian deck. On the appearance of each, the Carthaginian ships in Hamilcar's squadron have the option to withdraw at full rate with their bows facing the enemy, and the Roman ships in the squadrons of both consuls must advance towards them at full rate, turning, if need be, towards the nearest ship in Hamilcar's squadron. If a special event card is not acted on the following special events cards are void. Special events cards are discarded after use. This information should be known to both sides – if the Roman player knows his ships will be drawn forward, regardless of his wishes, he might as well go with the flow and press his attack vigorously. 

We will use Fleet of Battle rules as published in Wargames Illustrated issue 278, December 2010.