Ready Player [n]

Ready Player One (2011)

Members of the Oculus Quest team were all given copies of Ready Player One and they lifted many concepts from the book in their hardware and software design for the Oculus VR.

As I mentioned in a movie review post a couple years ago, Ready Player One is the sort of book that seemed to be genetically engineered to induce a nostalgia brain-boner for the inner kid in someone like me.

Ready Player One starts in an exposition-filled introduction where the main character, Wayde Watts, introduces the reader to a dystopian vision for the near future in 2045. Wayde is a resourceful kid without much opportunity, relegated to trailer park life in the outskirts of Oklahoma City. Work is scarce, food isn’t plentiful and the times are dangerous. An energy crisis, wars, famine & economic turmoil have ravaged the comparably comfortable society that we currently inhabit. Things are hard, especially for the least fortunate among us and the rich and poor alike seek distraction from the harshness of reality in a Virtual Reality MMO called The OASIS.

One of the OASIS’s cofounders, an eccentric high-functioning autistic genius billionaire named James Halliday, has died. His death triggers a multi-year virtual scavenger hunt to collect keys & solve challenges in search of an Easter Egg hidden somewhere inside the OASIS. These objectives are tied to the co-creator’s passions and interests, which are mostly anchored in 80’s nerd culture. This necessitates a planet-hopping, multi-year adventure that is densely packed with pop-culture references, fueled by 80’s nostalgia and performed by a cast of sympathetic characters. The winner will inherit Halliday’s fortune and control of the company that runs the OASIS, GSS.

Some combination of narrative connective tissue with the protagonist and Halliday and myself has led me to read the book numerous times on paperback or e-Book. Some of the specific references in the book (Joust, Wargames, Pac-man, Zork, Monty Python’s Holy Grail) ring the bell to bring out my inner 10 year old. That BBS-hopping, BASIC text-adventure-game-making nerd kid was me. When I wasn’t playing in the woods or in the tire-fields around our trailer, I was on the C64 spending hours on Aztec Challenge, Lode Runner, Donkey Kong, Law of the West & Snokie

When I first heard that Spielberg was going to be helming the film project, I was really hopeful that the movie would be a hit. It was commonly accepted that a direct translation of book to movie wouldn’t be feasible on terms of product licensing, alone.

The hook for me in the original story was the kid-adventure aspect of discovery of the Tomb of Horrors. It had the “treasure in your backyard” Goonies vibe as Parzival came to the realization the first key was hidden on planet Ludis, accessible to him despite his low-character strength and lack of wealth.

I never would have guessed that the writer of Goonies would opt instead to eliminate the entire “kid adventure in your backyard” vibe in favor of a CG-Fueled Death Race clone with no real soul or story. I would liked to have been a fly on the wall for how that came to pass.

Any chances of seeing Parzival traverse the Tomb of Horrors to ultimately confront Acererak in a Joust match are now relegated to fan-creations.

Epic fan art concept by Cole Marchetti

In preparation for the release of Ready Player Two, I watched the film again and listened to the audiobook.

This time, watching the film, I was able to appreciate it a little more as a standalone creation though I still miss the arcade video game references that were cut in favor of more recognizable pop culture fair. Decision by committee, I get it.

I really would have liked to see more classic arcades in the film, I really would have liked to see Parzival’s asteroid stronghold and a final battle closer to that of the original story. I’m mostly okay with the idea of remixing Wayde’s time as a shaved-like-a-naked-mole-rat IRL reclusion and infiltration into IOI with Art3mis’s movie plot. It makes Art3mis a stronger character, a fierce and independent young woman that will be far more interesting in the next movie, if they make one.

The audio book form of the original book is a treat. It is narrated by Wil Wheaton; the perfect choice for this material. It clips along at a good pace and is perfectly suited for the audiobook platform. Mr. Wheaton also narrated Armada, Ernest Cline’s love letter to The Last Starfighter.

Ready Player Two (2020)

Ready Player Two kicks off a few days after the close of Ready Player One’s storyline. Even though it continues from the book narrative it felt more like a screenplay for a second movie than a standalone sequel novel. Like the first novel, Ready Player Two’s primary narrative resolves around a scavenger hunt based on the original GSS founders’ obsessions. They do this while adjusting to their new positions of authority within GSS and over the OASIS and through the backdrop of their evolving relationships.

Wil Wheaton performs the audiobook narration and does an excellent job. He really has grown in skill as a narrator since the first book. This time around, when he inhabits the character of Wayde Watts, he does so in the beginning with a junky-like espresso-fueled excited rambling energy that really comes through in the performance. I found myself more than once checking the playback speed to see if it was still on 1x. That choice.. was a masterful one considering the storyline.

Without specifics and spoilers.. The stakes are huge and the storyline dips into numerous compelling contemporary concepts. Certain Characters are given a chance to grow and shine and some of those aspects will be fascinating to see on screen if this story is ever translated to film. Other characters’ idiosyncrasies get brought into daylight, sometimes to an uncomfortable degree but ultimately in service of the larger plot. That too, will be interesting to see in the market-tested, rounded and safe version that one days makes it screen. Spielberg has stayed in touch w/ Cline over the creation of the second book and even made a request of him concerning one of his favorite characters.

Ultimately, I liked Ready Player Two but I didn’t love it. The number of pop culture references per minute are cut considerably down and many of those chosen for this book didn’t resonate with me as much as the first. This book is a little more sci-fi concept with some D&D references, light on video games and heavier on 80’s pop music and film.

Just like the Ready Player One movie, this vision for Ready Player One Two may resonate with a broader audience by moves similar to swapping Zork for The Shining. Ultimately, it bums me out b/c the obscure, specific video game references from my childhood made Cline’s 1st book seem like it was written for me.

This? Not as much. Don’t get me wrong, I’m down for Cline’s world view and the central premise on this story and I think he’s a great storyteller and world builder. I just wanted more sprites and quarters in this escapism and less reminder of things like pandemics, broken governments and Purple Rain. YMMV. :)

Ready Player… Crossword

Using the AmuseLabs PuzzleMe Builder, I created a Crossword based on Ready Player One. Want to try it?

Click to Start Crossword Click to Stop Crossword

3D Printed Scared Stiff Slings (cont’d)

About a month ago, I started down the path to try to create:

(in my best sarcastic George Carlin voice) Scared Stiff Inspired, Slingshot Alternatives

You can follow along the first part of this adventure by clicking here.

front: single color extruded, masked then painted back: dual extrusion Red and Grey Kodak PETG.

First, I tried a transparent red PLA from 3D Universe and dissolvable PVA for supports.
This yielded a really decent single-material result, though the inclusion of PVA pushes up the build cost by a couple bucks.

-Not a huge deal, these are just for me… or friends that ask for them but it also takes a bunch of time to clean up the PVA boogers or let them dissolve all the way. It ties up a build plate for 12-24 hours while it dissolves.

But what I really wanted to do is to get a decent dual-extrusion print template, separating out the transparent red from the original from the opaque parts. The idea being, if I could match the red translucent and print the rest in grey, each one is just a little detail paint work away from being closer to the originals.

In order to do multi material / multi extruder prints, you need a model that dissected into pieces.

Though not perfect, I eventually ended up with decent enough cutouts for a multi material print.

Getting the model broke into components pushed the limits of the capabilities of Shapr3D and my skills in this arena. Shapr3D doesn’t give you a great way to perform contoured or free-hand cuts so I ended up duplicating the model into three copies and erasing away portions of the model with varied overlapping edit-cylinders used to mask out subtraction zones.

I tried an EDU copy of Solidworks as well but I have more learning in that area before I can be effective. A couple days ago, I ran across Mesh Mixer, which may end up being a better solution for my use case in the future.

Kodak makes filament? Yep and it is really quite decent too. Good price, the spools have smooth cylinder walls and roll well and the material properties are very consistent. They are even food safe.

I’m mostly okay with the luminosity of the translucent PETG. The color is a little off from the original but a stickler could print on clear and used translucent hobby paints to tint in the red.

I still need to paint the feet lime green but so far my play testing set is holding up.

Have a Scared Stiff and need slings? You can pull down my models from here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0t7wzhce1593ljl/AABL449nCkC3ols3Zp2hge2ba?dl=0

(please note the current prototypes still have a few small flaws but they are definitely playable)

Williams Indy Roto Lock

On Williams, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure, the Roto-Lock is a plastic ball diverter atop a metal shaft connected to a coil. It is used in the rotating idol mech to dispense and lock balls.

When it breaks and you try to find a replacement, you might see the same thing I did. Some guy trying to sell a used one for $75 on eBay.

I thought: $75? No way! I want to spend $3500 for that part and get threatened with a lawsuit, so maybe I can pay my attorney a couple thousand too and bring the TCO to around $6500.

Yea, Let’s do that, instead. Companies apparently don’t like you 3d printing their parts even though they aren’t making them available for purchase.

(sarcastic guy, is sarcastic)

So, I reproduced the part for my personal pinball machine and created a model so I can print a spare whenever I want.

Because my caliper-based measurements are always off by a few fractions of a mm, I glued, taped and painted a broken original and scanned it in.

Using the scan to get measurements and angles exactly right, I recreated the part out of primitive shapes

It took several test prints, I had some sort of vertical dotted line that would appear in the prints but not the model. I eventually solved for this by fusing the primitive shapes in the model into a single body.

After a bunch of test prints, I finally got a usable result and fit-tested it.

The original part is translucent yellow. I’ll probably grab a roll next time I’m ordering filament and make a closer version from that translucent PETG.

Want this 3D model for your own personal use to get your Indy Operational again?

Enjoy! - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lhoboi7ekkyvibf/AABO0BAPum7rI5t55TDHgQsxa

No Good Gofers Reconstruction

Typical “don’t sue me” stuff applies, here.

A friend of mine sent me his broken gofers and some non-painted reproductions. I used the facial details from the broken original with the structural benefits of the reproduction to create a couple models for 3d printing replacements. You can grab the models for your personal use and printing, here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/06tmsbnqvcm2ncz/AAD-tWBVPFfBnVCCPDQoOioJa?dl=0

I’m not interested in doing this for cash but if you are desperate, need a set - I’m happy to help you out as a favor, just email me.
I also found this thread on Pinside, recommend you reach out - their results look many times better than my scans :)

PLA Print w/ PLA Supports - these turned out pretty good

PETG Print w/ PETG supports. The PETG support boogers are too difficult to remove to be practical.

PETG Prints w/ PVA SUpports

The results are good pre-painted, extremely tough. The print layer lines are obvious, in this batch.

Mid-November Pinball Crossword

Using the AmuseLabs PuzzleMe Builder, I created a Crossword for November 2020 based on Pinball Terminology. Want to try it?

Click to Start Crossword Click to Stop Crossword

Scared Stiff Sling Reconstruction

Scared Stiff Sling Plastics… They are getting to be rare finds. The last set I found (and won) on eBay, they told they couldn’t mail to the US because of COVID-19. (?) Something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile is to devise a way to make more. Not like.. to sell or anything but just to have and help others along the way…

Granted, probably the solution involves making a mold.. But I’m the kind of guy that uses racing drones to cut down trees, so you know.. I went down a nerdier path..

3D Printing as a Vector for Replacement Parts

3D Printing has come along way in terms of available materials. The challenge comes from getting a usable 3D model. I’m a reasonably capable novice for modeling and CAD but trying to model something with lots of detail and contours is a real challenge in the CAD apps that I’ve used.

Attempting to get a 3D Scan..

My first thought was to try to use the new LiDAR camera stack in the 2020 iPad Pro.

via LiDAR scan

via TRNIO

SOL 3D Scanner by ScanDimension

3D Print / STL Files can be found at this Dropbox Link.

Upgrading our Retro Console Setup

Something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile is bump up our Retro Console situation. Last year I added a freebie 19” CRT and some multi-carts. Since then I’ve had my eye out for a Sony Trinitron of the 27” variety.

Watching the usual for-sale ads typically put them just out of reasonable reach at about 125 miles distance aside from a few local eBay scalpers that buy them them list at a premium.

In some down time following Hurricane Sally I found a seller on eBay that seemed to have experience shipping heavy things…

Ultimately shipping cost more than the TV but he did a great job of packaging it for the long trip to our front door.

I’m super stoked that I pulled away from the idea of a larger 34” version as I think that would have been too large for my use case. The 27” and a slightly reinforced corner table from Amazon is definitely increasing our retro console time! Hoping to get some R&R soon to take a break and enjoy it more.

I did at least get to beat my former high score on Nintendo World Championship 1990

Star Wars Squadrons is Awesome

Last month, I shared with you my thoughts on the state of VR. Since that post, two important things have happened in that gaming space.

First, at Facebook Connect 7 Facebook unveiled the Oculus Quest 2, announced they were doing away with Oculus Rift S & Oculus Go and the Quest 2 becomes their unified new strategy for VR.

Secondly, Star Wars Squadrons was released.

…and it is awesome.

To say I’ve wanted this experience in a bad way is an understatement. I’m the fool that attempted to build a home-made Star Wars Battle Pod and have since come close on a number of occasions to buy the real thing from auctions.

Me, to Wife:

”Look, honey, we can fortify it and use it as a storm shelter; See wasn’t as stupid of a purchase as it looks!”

This game being announced is a large part of why I’ve given VR renewed attention.

I had pre-ordered the game for PS4 (VR) and on the PC through Steam. Gamestop in Daphne, apparently sold my PS4 copy to someone else. (What … exactly.. does preorder.. mean, then?)

…However, I’ve gotten a couple hours of play in with Steam VR and the Oculus Quest between what has been an unusually hectic October of adulting, this far.

PC Version w/ SteamVR

For the PC version, I’m playing with SteamVR, Oculus Quest & Oculus Link. I’m using an xBox One controller. The Oculus-Steam interplay can sometimes feel kludgy and the SteamVR version is a little buggy. Go ahead and update Steam, Oculus (if playing via an Oculus device) and NVidia graphics drivers. Those updates will be essential; not just for performance but for essential gameplay.

There is a bug in the Steam VR version where the EA login dialog in illegibly small.
There is a bug in the Steam VR version where the cutscenes render incorrectly in VR.

- In order to work around both bugs, start the game in (non-VR) mode to login. Once logged in, go to Settings-> Display and change the Display from Full Screen to Borderless. For some reason this 2D monitor setting impacts the cutscene zoom when playing in VR.

Playstation VR Impressions

Will post some of my PSVR impressions shortly. My Local Gamestop, which I’ve tried to support despite the inconvenience in doing so; they did me dirty.

I’ll have some PSVR impressions soon… But… seriously: don’t take my word for it. Google “Star Wars Squadrons Review”; It is easily poised for game of the year buzz already.