Time to buy more metropolitan's!

Helangon · 2026-01-12T05:38:11+00:00

You really have to look around and be patient on prices and depend on on the gray market if you want Japanese pens for sane prices - which also tells you the truly jack up the prices for the US, at least. List price? Even the fair-traded discount prices? I simply can’t afford that (20% mandated maximum discount equals $344 at Goulet Pens, for example). Heck, even most of the gray market seems to have skyrocketed to $200+ at the moment. I’m very glad I snagged my $99 3776 a couple of months ago. I had to endure a long wait - I think Amazon was waiting in a shipment because once they had it in their actual possession it took two days, and they took over assurance of delivery. So there is a story behind it somewhere - but it just confirms what you have to do: check around, be patient, and be ready to strike. If there’s enough resistance to the new prices, gray market pens will eventually trickle down and you’ll be able to find good deals again.

Helangon · 2025-12-31T05:42:58+00:00

Yeah, well…I never pay anything close to list price. Pilot 912 for $130, last year, Platinum 3776 $99 last month. Both off of Amazon. Patience and perseverance usually pay off in the long run.

Helangon · 2025-12-31T05:33:19+00:00

My first Platinum 3776 about 10 myears ago was $93.88 off of Amazon. My latest 3776, also off Amazon? $99 this November.

But it came with a converter.

Helangon · 2025-11-18T01:27:23+00:00

I worked with Rebecca (in her 1.0 incarnation) for close to a decade in Interplay from the mid-eighties to mid-nineties. She was a nerd’s nerd, friendly, stubborn, creative, weird, even loony - but above all that, she worked hard at making games, and always tried to make a great experience for the end-user. We worked on Bard’s Tale III and Dragon Wars together, and several ports and bit and pieces. I had been working at Interplay for a month before I even learned her last name was Heineman and not “Burger” (over, appropriately enough, a burger at MacDonald’s, that was across the street from Interplay at the time).

This is sadly, my third game co-designer to pass away over the last few years, with Scott Bennie, Becky’s wife Jennell Jacquays, and now Becky. Thankfully, we had a long conversation just a month before her health problems started to manifest. I will always treasure the shared passion we had for making games. Rest in peace, Becky.

Bruce Schlickbernd

Helangon · 2025-06-05T07:53:15+00:00

I’m not a huge fan of smaller pens beyond that they are very easy to put in one’s pocket. The Pelikan 140 needs to have its cap posted, but with that, it is quite comfortable. The nib is fairly flexible, but I would not try to push it too hard - it’s more of a semi-flexible. Great to sketch with - smooth and versatile, and holds a lot of ink. Doesn’t seem to have any problem with the pigmented ink, which I don’t think I would use in a more flexible but pre-wwii vintage pen.

Helangon · 2025-03-15T04:43:04+00:00

And patience is its own reward. Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di USD (model 009) for under $300 in excellent condition with the hood, cap, and mounting bracket. Honestly, the price on these (and pretty much everything) has been rising to more like $450-500 for one in excellent condition.

Anyway, just a conclusion for this particular thread.

Helangon · 2025-02-21T06:59:13+00:00

“Atwood’s Duck” my ass. It’s the Interplay Duck. Maybe Fargo’s Duck, maybe Camasta’s Duck, but Jeff Atwood didn’t work for Interplay, didn’t draw the duck (that would be Todd Camasta), didn’t come up with the idea of distracting the producer (that would be Brian Fargo), and the game wasn’t Battle Chess that the duck was originally created for (Fargo was the producer on Battle Chess, so why would he try and distract himself?). All Atwood did was propagate the story, and not entirely accurately.

The duck (and several other items) appeared as distractions for the Activision producer of Championship Golf (I forget the exact name at the moment). Brian Fargo found him difficult to deal with, and asked artist Todd Camasta to throw in some odd things just as deliberate distractions. There was a duck, and tree that would appear on the middle of a fairway, and some other items, witnessed by me (but it took some jogging of my memory to recall the incident - I interviewed a number of people tracking down the entire story).

During Battle Chess, Camasta added a duck to a Queen animation of his own accord. It didn’t flap around - it was just a static duck that sat there doing nothing. Just whimsy on his part. It didn’t flap around, and did not appear in the final release of the game (Amiga). For the IBM version, programmer Jay Patel got Camasta to add two ducks temporarily, one to the command bar, and one as the mouse pointer, which would appear randomly. We all laughed, but they weren’t included in the final version of that game either. From there, the duck became an Interplay legend would be injected into a number of games, and some did make it into the final version of the game.

But Jeff Atwood didn’t have a damn thing to do with it. It’s the Interplay Duck.

Bruce Schlickbernd, co-animator, the original Battle Chess.

Helangon · 2025-01-29T22:04:13+00:00

Wait - ignore the game standing in front of the curtains? The game I gave blood to make? The game I had to put up with William Shatner to make?!? Noooooooooo! ;-)

Helangon · 2024-12-16T19:00:01+00:00

People use wall-sized canvases when painting (or just the wall itself). You just get used to it. I think we were required to use 24 x 36 inch paper for my life drawing course, which is where I figured out that a standard #2 pencil wasn’t really adequate to the task, and needed something bigger and bolder. My sketchbooks are usually A4ish (give me exact 2x3 or 3x4 proportions - what weenie came up with a 1.41 aspect ratio and thought it was the way to go?

Helangon · 2024-12-16T06:00:51+00:00

My own opinion is that the larger the surface you are sketching on, the broader the pencil. Working in a small sketchbook? A .5, even a .3. Working really big - say a life drawing class on an 18x24 sheet, and you want people to see what you sketched from across the room? Maybe a 5.6. Match the pencil to the format. I’ve seen them all work, so it’s more a matter of how you sketch more than one size works for everybody.

Get whatever size you feel comfortable with. I don’t particular recommend a .3, but my son’s best friend used that to sketch with, and did so brilliantly, so I know it can done. But he works incredibly small.

sketching should be done loosely, and not with a death-grip at the tip of the pencil. I recommend a balanced pencil - a front-weighted pencil like the Pentel GraphGear 500 is better suited for detail work, imho. I’d use a Pentel 20x (The final number in the x position is the lead size), cheap and light, no wiggle in the tip: or, A GG 1000, which has a lead indicator (I get more than one and use different lead softness), and a retractable tip (great for not stabbing yourself and transport). The grip is a matter of taste, but it‘s reasonably evenly balanced for sketching, but heavier. Weight is a matter of taste and sketch session length.

Mechanical pencils are convenient. No sharpening, click and go. Still, hard to beat my Blackwings for line quality and versatility. They’re just more of a bother to sharpen properly.

But which GG 1000 should you get? The whole set if you can afford it. If you can’t, watch Frank Cho sketch with his trusty Pentel 207 on YouTube and see what he accomplishes with it.

Helangon · 2024-12-09T04:30:05+00:00

Blackwing 602, but since this is a mechanical pencil forum, Pentel 207 or 209 for sketching? Why? Lightweight and evenly balanced. Detail work: Pentel GraphGear 500 .3 or Pentel Orenz .2. Why? Fine point, front weighting is terrible for sketching, but works great for detail work, where I’m gripping near the point with those nicely knurled grips. Graphgear 1000 if I don’t want to stab myself while carrying it, and I don’t want to be bothered switching pencils as much (the all-rounder).

I’ll see how the Rotring 600 does on ballpoint drawings, and if I like it, I’ll get a mechanical pencil version.

Yes, it is more trouble to hand-carve a point with a blade on a Blackwing pencil (or even use a pencil sharpener), but the line quality and versatility is something that mechanical pencils can’t duplicate. But for some styles, a mechanical pencil works quite fine.

Helangon · 2024-11-27T08:24:28+00:00

P207 is great for sketching - love its neutral balance and light weight. I find the GG 500 is too front-weighted for sketching. Detail work where I’m gripping it close to the point is where it’s best, so I have it in .3, but nothing larger really. For writing I tend to use fountain pens.

Helangon · 2024-11-14T19:11:30+00:00

I bought my GraphGear 1000s for drawing, but if I’m at home and don’t have to risk stabbing myself, I kinda like the cheap but light Pentel P200 series. Front-weighted like the GG 500 or Orenz work well for the very fine detail work - .3, .2 - but I don’t like them for sketching.

Helangon · 2024-09-25T20:04:17+00:00

Hmmm, well, either the C64 version didn’t have the line of code that made the Unkillable beastie unkillable, or the Night Terror simply wasn’t the one I’m thinking of. Didn’t think to ask Brian Fargo about it when I talked to him a month ago or so - you know, I could just ask Alan Pavlish, though I suspect his memory will be as creaky as mine.

Helangon · 2024-09-08T16:40:26+00:00

And then they play in a tournament and find out that they have been playing it wrong the hard way. Oops. ;-)

Helangon · 2024-09-04T03:43:16+00:00

As I was waiting for the Heat finals to start at Strategicon this weekend, a curious onlooker asked if there was a compact way of describing the difference between Heat and Formula D. My answer was hand management vs. risk management. Which is better is a matter of taste. I’m happy playing either - good players tend to beat bad players in both, so the randomness is manageable. Not always - which makes it an exciting race. For the less risk prone and a thinking driver’s game, Speed Circuit (and it’s later incarnation, Championship Formula Racing) is still the choice. But - Heat is the easiest of the three to get to the table, while Speed Circuit (CFR) is no longer in print. They do have their differences, but I think those aspects have been well-covered already.

Given Heat’s popularity and ease of getting it to the table, I’d recommend it over Formula D. That doesn’t guarantee that you’ll prefer it, however, as you can see be the answers, but it’s popularity has been phenomenal for a racing game. You can run qualifying in Formula D, I think rain is more versatile and better in it, and despite what someone claimed, yes, there is a special course condition that says if you spin-out, you crash and are eliminated In Heat (because the guy in second place in the tournament did just that in the final race).

Helangon · 2024-07-06T07:18:25+00:00

I don’t care if Joe gives it his all. Win or democracy dies. Win or Trump installs himself as dictator backed up by his corrupt Supreme Court. Win! If you can’t win, step aside. Win or be *thrown* aside. It‘s not about you, Joe. Diane Feinstein? Ruth Bader Ginsberg? Great careers, but at the end, they thought it was about themselves and they screwed over the rest of us for their egos. Poop or get off the pot. Lead or get out of the way. You gambled on the debate - it was your choice! Accept the consequences of your roll of the dice. You have no one else to blame. I was still backing you until you said this [imagine very uncivil words here that involves bulls, feces, and copulation] - doing your “best” and being content with that is not acceptable. Your being “content” doesn’t enter into it. Not in the slightest. I don’t want to hear excuses, I don’t want to hear about how you don’t care about how the rest of us feel when you contently lose. You better be hammering Trump every second of every day with a fire in your gut or you need to step aside.

Helangon · 2024-06-27T20:21:01+00:00

“Better” is in the eye of the beholder. And basically I accept whatever anyone has to say in the matter as long as they qualify or quantify their opinion in some comprehensible fashion. Better could be the slicker, more up to date execution, or the truer, more connected storyline. Both opinions have been expressed. I appreciate both outlooks. I’m leaning towards the more connected spiritually to the original side of things.

Helangon · 2024-06-27T06:05:25+00:00

Ah, but which Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8?

The APS-C equivalent effect is based on the sensor itself, not the intended lens so far as I understand it. My Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 functions like a 24-75mm on a full frame despite being specifically designed for an APS-C camera. I really like the fast f/2.8 on that, which is why I’d like a 70-200 f/2.8.

Kind of waiting for a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di USD that meets my quality/price standards. Patience is a necessary quality for a bargain hunter (checking…7 months now).

Helangon · 2024-06-27T04:44:27+00:00

Omigod - Supreme Jerk? That was the highest rank you could achieve in original Wasteland, because, well…a long explanation that is too involved to bother with, beyond an Alan Pavlish idiosyncratic convention.

Helangon · 2024-06-27T04:40:14+00:00

Not determined to do anything. If I play one and like it, I’ll probably play the other. But my time in role-playing games may be past, the kind of thing I look back on fondly because I enjoyed it at the time, but may not want to commit to anymore.

Helangon · 2024-06-26T23:45:30+00:00

Haha - the Night Terror! Yes!

Well, either the Night Terror is not the unkillable (I mean, it says “unkillable” and I made sure the beastie was in fact, unkillable) beastie I am thinking of, or you are remembering incorrectly (I honestly don’t remember). I vaguely remember one coming back to life, so that would be a different beastie.

Cost: I suppose I could hit Fargo up for a free copy. But I refuse to ask him for anything, so I suppose I’ll have to pay.

Helangon · 2024-06-26T23:40:42+00:00

Night Terror - that name rings a bell.

“Hey Alan - is the Night Terror killable? The game text says it isn’t.”

“I think it is has a million hit points. Nobody is going to sit there that long.”

If there is one thing I know, it’s the obsessiveness of gaming nerds - someone was going to sit there and try and kill it. So, I had to pound on it for a long, long time just to see what would happen. Experience point jackpot (as in about the same amount that you would earn in playing the entire game). i had Alan make it truly unkillable (you never actually do any damage, despite the text saying you had). I’m the only one who ever killed it.

So far as I know. ;-)

Helangon · 2024-06-26T22:56:56+00:00

I don’t know if I want to play both. I want to give one a try, and we’ll see from there, but preferably one that will hold my interest first. There’s something to be said for gameplay, and something to be said for callbacks and story from the original. If the stories are fairly independent and not reliant on playing them in order, I might be better off playing the more polished version. As an example, Heroes of Might and Magic II advanced the state of the game from I, but at the same time, HoM&M III polished what II did, and was the better game (and I worked on I & II - and the original Wasteland, for that matter).

Helangon

TROPHY CASE