He looked familiar, but I couldn’t work out why. I was at a friend’s birthday dinner recently, and was introduced to Luke – who now sports a beard – and he was keen to hear about how my hubby runs our property as Luke has recently bought one of his own in the hinterland. Arkhefield and SPLAT teams would often all have morning tea together, do Xmas parties together and we also enjoyed working together on certain projects. It was called Stephen Pate Landscape Architects – or SPLAT for short. When I worked for Arkhefield in Brisbane, we shared an office with a Landscape Architecture practice that Luke worked with. See Luke and I actually worked in the same office about 17 years ago. Luke is actually based near me, and connecting with him recently is a funny story. Their work has been published in Inside Out magazine, and they have this fantastic collaborative approach to all their work. They work in a range of project types, including commercial, multi-residential and single residential. This means that they listen carefully to clients’ needs to collaboratively create with these objectives in mind. LARC Collective specialise in what they call “unique solution-based design”. Experiencing the extreme landscapes of the Mexican desert, freezing waters of New Jersey and rocky mountains of Canada from the solace of a van – he became acutely aware of space and thus space-saving solutions. LARC Collective formed in 2012, when Luke returned from a year-long adventure. So, I’m really excited to be sitting down with Luke Jones of LARC Collective. But when you see landscaped areas that have had design input from a professional, it can be amazing what a difference it makes to how the garden and outdoor areas function and feel – both in the daytime, and at night. I think too, it’s one of those areas that we think we can all tackle ourselves. And it’s so worth the effort when you get it right, so it’s great if you can give it attention and budget in your project. And dirt has this handy way of expanding in size when you pull it out of the ground, and so moving it around, and getting it off site, can get expensive.Īdd to that any retaining and services you want to add, plus the style and design of your hardscape or paved areas, and planting … it’s like designing another room to your home. It can vary based on your site, and the nature of topography, how easy access is for machinery, and what you’re seeking to create in your project.Īs you can imagine, it can be fairly labour intensive – especially if your site is hard to get gear into, and work is being done by hand. Homeowners are often surprised at the cost of their landscaping. To have that space around your home – be it compact or generous – that is well designed and beautiful to be in, is so significant for our homes and our lifestyles in them. Or set aside as a DIY job with some Weekend Warrior, Backyard Blitz action planned … that never quite happens like we plan for it.Īnd yet, they’re such a big part of helping our projects feel finished … and also helping our homes work well. Or cut off at some point during the project when money gets tight. All presentations can take place over the computer.Often they get left off the budget altogether. All meetings, if desired, can take place over the phone, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype, or other video conferencing software of your choice. For years we have specialized in accommodating our clients’ busy schedules to include remote landscape design services. ❧ Visit our portfolio… We are an Industry Leader in Remote Landscape Design ServicesĬontact us today to set up a remote consultation with one of our award-winning landscape architects or landscape designers. We would love to share some exciting design ideas for your landscape! Please enjoy your visit to our website. We handle all aspects of your landscape project – design, install, and maintain – in a fun and easy manner. We love what we do! We would love to share our passion for creating beautiful landscapes with you. For over 40 years CLC Landscape Design has been the preeminent design/build landscape firm in northern New Jersey. CLC Landscape Design is an award-winning landscape architecture and landscape construction firm.
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most modern homes built after the mid 1960's with a fireplace already have a lined chimney because of building regulations. The answer to this is no as long as the chimney stack is sound and does not leak and there is nothing that can catch fire such as timber beams etc. Your insurance may be invalid if you have a chimney fire with no proof of sweeping. More and more insurance companies are requesting this. When you have your chimney swept it is advisable that the chimney sweep gives you an invoice to prove to your insurance company in the event of a chimney fire, you have had your chimney swept. One reason for downdraught is that the chimney stack has been built to short and another could be trees, buildings or other large high objects.ĭo I need a certificate for my household insurance? If the incorrect cowl is fitted, it may make the problem worse. It is advisable to ask your chimney sweep which type of cowl to use as there are many different designs suited for the different problems. To help with this problem, a cowl can be fitted at the top. Solution- downdraught is a brief flow of air down the chimney resulting in puffs of smoke interfering with the wind flow. Initially, just burn newspaper as this will create a lot of heat quickly and will move the air upwards. Cold air is heavy and if the flue isn't heated quickly enough, the cold air will force the smoke back into the room. Solution- if the fire hasn't been lit for a while, the air up the chimney can get cold. The chimney sweep can the advise on what work will then be necessary. Solution- Having the chimney swept will either correct the problem or highlight where and what the blockage could be. It may be that only one or a combination of any of them could cause the smoke to blow back into the room. There are different reasons why your chimney may smoke. At the time of the service, the serviceman will check the draw of the chimney and, if there is a problem sweeping the chimney will almost certainly be necessary. This should be done yearly or more often if a problem occurs. You should have your gas appliances checked and serviced regularly. I have a gas fire, do I still need the fire swept? If your chimney sweep is in and out within a short period of time he is not doing the sweep properly. It takes around 45-60 minutes from start to finish to sweep the average chimney. How long does it take to sweep a chimney? Brushes must be used to sweep the soot from inside the stack. No, a vacuum is used to suck up soot that falls when sweeping the chimney. For more frequent use, you should have your fire swept once before you start having fires then once again half way though the burning season.Ĭan the chimney be cleaned properly with just a vacuum? A general guideline is, For occasional evening and weekend use, Once a year is enough. This depends on how often the fire is used and what you burn. The accumulated creosote also corrodes the flues, meaning you will need them replaced sooner. If the chimney does not have enough pull, the smoke will enter into the room, not only causing irritation to you, but can also blacken your fireplace, the walls, or the decoration above. Gradually, this will decrease the size of the flue which in turn, will lower the draw of the smoke upwards. Which will need to be replaced and the worst being you could lose your home! Fortunately, the more extreme outcome does not happen very often, but it does happen.Įach time the fire is used, soot will accumulate up the chimney. Chimney fires can cause property damage the least usually being a cracked chimney pot. Having your chimney swept regularly will drastically reduce the chances of having a chimney fire. Having your chimney swept will help make sure that the flue is sufficiently clear to allow the dangerous fumes to escape safely out of the chimney. There are 3 basic reasons why you should get your chimney sweptīreathing in the fumes from gas or solid fuel fires can cause serious damage to your health, and in the worse cases prove fatal. Now click the project tab then select export to midi. I will show some more features after but for now we will export this beat to midi file and create a song with it in beatbuddy manager. You can also change the tempo in the box above loop button writing where it says 128. You can also click the loop button near the play button to play your midi file in a loop. In this example I will halve the velocity of the Hi-Hats on the half beat. One click select the note then drag the long straight line to velocity level required. This is the long straight lines under the midi pattern. While doing this we can also change the velocity or volume of the note. To move a note put in the wrong spot click and hold on the note then you can drag it around. To delete click once on the note you want to delete and hit delete key. If you don’t hear anything you might have to press the rewind button to get back to the start to play. On the beat 1 and 3 we will add Bass Drum notes, on beat 2 and 4 we will add snare hits and on every beat and half beat we will add a Hi-Hat. In Beatbuddy Manager when you open up a drumkit for editing you will see midi numbers in the name of the instrument that will line up with a note on the piano roll. These notes on the piano roll will align with the different drum sounds we want to trigger (bass, snare, crash etc) and it will greatly help you out to become familiar with this. This will bring up the midi editor with the piano roll down the left hand side with lettering such as C1, C2, C3 etc. Then double click inside the loop to create a midi section and then click the edit tab. You can set first off how long you want your loop or part to be by moving the loop on/off icons. Right Click on the “Basic Synth Rack” track to get rid of it. You can then select a beat or fill and drag it across in to the track in the midi area. Now we are going to clear the page with the drumset display off the page for now.Īdvanced: There is the opportunity if you are looking for beats and fills to click on “Grooves” under the drumkit. Go back to the MT Power Drum download page, enter your computer number as is shows and get your activation key. The first time you do this you will have to Activate the drums. dll file you just pasted to the MuLab folder Copy these files and then paste it in the same page as the MuLab folder.īack in the MuLab program we have to click on the instrument section in the top right corner, In the menu then select VST and then browse for VST pluggin. Now when you open up the unzipped folder there will be a file with extension. Same procedure as downloading the MuLab file. Download the MT Power Drum Kit selecting the appropriate operating system and 32 or 64 bit. The program has some drum instruments but I don’t know if they are mapped to the right notes so I will download a drum vst pluggin. First we need to select an instrument to get some sounds when we play back our midi file. In front of us now is where we will create the midi file. It seems to have a preloaded clip we want to get rid of so select the project tab and then new. Now after starting just click ok etc through I agree and sound screen and program starts. In the Unzipped folder you can find and click on MuLab to start the program. I unzip mine into a folder with the same name ends up like this. Now You need to unzip this folder using an unzip program. I normally automatically save to a download folder but here I have saved to a folder I have created Labeled MuLab Now when you download from MuLab you will need to save the zipped file to a folder on your hard drive. Even smart people can spend hours stuck on the seemingly easiest of things. Now I am going to try and make this as easy to understand as I can so don’t be insulted if you think some of my instructions insult your Intelligence. It has a trail period then is $60 but well worth it in my opinion.įor This Example I will use a program I have found called MuLab which has a free version which is feature limited but will work with midi editing. Myself I use Reaper to create songs and find it very powerful and easy once learned. The first program I would recommend is Beatbuilder by Charles Spencer. This Thread is quite big so I will start a seperate thread here for adding bass to songs.įirst thing I will do is use a midi editor to create a drum beat. This thread make take a bit of time for me to complete. I will only be making the occasional song from now on but would like to see more users creating there own. After Reading aashideacon’s thread How to create “with bass” BB songs on a Mac (Please have a look through his thread in conjuction with this one) I though I would try to create a step by step guide for creating your own songs and try to make it as simple as I can. Q: I imagine that you, like so many other performers, must be happy to be out touring again. And in New Zealand, especially, we thrive a wee bit on alternative comedy, so I felt like I could develop such a weird character there. But overall, I think I was reasonably confident that people would go for it because, like you say, it was so different. But because there are small vignettes it means that if you’re not enjoying one little piece that I’m doing, I’m going to move on to something completely different within three or four minutes, onto the next gag, which is quite nice. Wills: Umm, initially I think it kind of was, because I was really anxious if the audience would stay with me for that long. Q: Now, just out of curiosity, was it a challenge when you first began expanding the length of your shows while continuing not talking? Wills: And I’m surviving quite well (chuckle). Q: Well, you are doing something original in the comedy genre and have carved your own niche and are doing a fine job of it, to boot! tour, I get hundreds of messages from people saying, “Why aren’t you coming to my town?!” - and I’m going, “The country’s too big!” - to tour the entire country would take ages! (Laughter) But the thing is, this country is huge whenever we announce that we’re doing a U.S. I think that this might be our first time coming into the area, which is quite exciting. Q: Have you performed up in Maine before? Wills: Yeah, we’ve been knocking out shows, it’s been insane, it’s been very, very busy. Q: And that’s been proved with this residency in Vegas that you’re doing and the 1,000 shows you’ve done in the last five years. Then I thought, “I wonder if people would watch a whole hour or 70 minutes of this nonsense?” - and it turns out that people do (laughter)! It went from there, originally it was a bit of a joke: it was a five-minute routine just to prove a point, then I wrote more material and I hit 15 minutes and 20 minutes and 30 minutes. I found a bit of tape, put it over my mouth, I went out and I did a five-minute routine without saying a word. But I came back the next night and I was lucky enough because there was another comedian who said to me, “The only way you could do a silent character would be if you could tape your mouth shut!” So that was where it sort of came from. Wills: I lasted about 15 to 20 seconds before I ruined it by talking to the audience (chuckle). I was lucky enough in 2005 where I won a comedy award, but the problem was that everyone expected me to keep doing more shows where I did disgusting tricks and talked more, so I challenged myself to do a silent character and nobody believed me because they couldn’t believe that I could shut up for that long. So I developed a show during that where I talked a lot. But I also learned about circus sideshows, all the freak show stuff, and that netted me: all the sword swallowers and the people who can eat light bulbs and hammer nails up their noses, all the grotesque sideshow things. At the school I learned different things from juggling to tightrope to all sorts of random circus skills. I was an apprentice to a clown in a very small town in New Zealand, so I moved out of home and started studying at the circus school. Wills: I started out performing at the age of 12. Q: (Laughter) How did you develop this persona and this act? Wills: (Chuckle) Yeah, well, that’s one of the reasons the tape came about because I talked too much! I was surprised to learn that you were willing to talk with me. Q: I first saw you on “America’s Got Talent,” and when I heard that you were scheduled to appear in Waterville, Maine, at the opera house there, I thought it would be neat to chat with you, but because your performance is all non-vocal, I figured you didn’t do interviews. When the Nintendo Switch Online service first launched, one of the main selling points was the ability to play classic NES games at no additional charge. 35 in early 2021, and it has made no indication as to if it will ever return. Just like with the other Super Mario anniversary content, Nintendo removed access to Super Mario Bros. It used the same concept as these other games, essentially serving as a Super Mario-themed battle royale, but with a much smaller player count reflecting the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario franchise. The concept behind Pac-Man 99 is similar, but it replaces Tetris gameplay with classic Pac-Man gameplay.īesides Pac-Man 99 and Tetris 99, the Switch Online service also once had a game called Super Mario Bros. The game keeps going until everyone is eliminated and only one player remains. The basic concept is that 99 players are all playing against each other in Tetris and are able to sabotage those on neighboring screens. Tetris 99 in particular is often named as one of the most entertaining and unique battle royale games on the market. As far as battle royales go, Nintendo Switch Online can lay claim to two exclusives, which are battle royale versions of the popular retro video games Pac-Man and Tetris. Numerous companies have thrown their hats in the ring, developing their own takes on the battle royale genre. 99 Gamesīattle royale games have been all the rage since the meteoric rise of games like PUBG and Fortnite. Joining the Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC is the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion, a single-player expansion to the base Splatoon 2 game that should keep fans busy while they wait to get their hands on Splatoon 3. Nintendo has also expanded the free DLC offerings available through the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. It's possible that more Nintendo 64 games will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack in future updates, but nothing official has been announced at the time of this writing. The NES lineup recently added Pinball, while a slew of classic Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games have also been made available to play.Īs far as Nintendo 64 games go, Nintendo has added all the games it initially promised for the service, with subscribers now having access to the likes of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Pokemon Snap. Updated Jby Dalton Cooper: Nintendo continues to add content to the Nintendo Switch Online service, with fresh games readily available for subscribers to check out across the regular tier as well as the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Here are all the games that Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can play at the time of this writing across NES, SNES, and original titles. RELATED: Appearance of Ocarina of Time's Water Improved by Nintendo Switch Online Emulation Update Instead of releasing new games on a monthly basis, however, Nintendo Switch Online adds retro titles from legacy Nintendo consoles in batches, in addition to the occasional original game. The aptly titled Nintendo Switch Online is similar in practice to Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus for a fee ($19.99 per year for the base package, $49.99 for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack), Switch users are able to play games online, utilize cloud save features, and more.Īlso like PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold, a Nintendo Switch Online subscription includes access to "free" games. While PlayStation and Xbox have been asking their users to subscribe to services to play online multiplayer games for years, Nintendo just hopped on the bandwagon with its Nintendo Switch console. Legacyįor a format as old as Legacy, it’s impressive that 2019 was able to disrupt it so much. But it’s hard to find competitive Pauper events these days as it’s one of the least supported formats. But once that was banned, the format has returned to a state of normalcy and isn’t ravaged by the likes of Oko and companions thanks to commons not being as pushed. Arcum’s Astrolabe quickly proved to be centralizing as a one mana version of an effect that is already played. Out of all the formats that have been ravaged by 2019, Pauper came out almost unscathed. And now with an older format, we see cards like Lurrus become even more prominent, reducing diversity among decks and pushing other staples like Liliana of the Veil out of the format. Format staples such as Mox Opal have been banned for the sins of Urza. Hogaak was a tier 0 deck for an entire summer, and took down Bridge From Below and Faithless Looting with it. However, now that we have it, many players are going back in time to before War of the Spark and playing as if the last year of Magic didn’t even happen. Modern Horizons was a very exciting set initially, and was something the playerbase has been wanting for years. If your deck doesn’t fit into that paradigm (such as my personal deck in spirits) you might as well not be playing. Now with Ikoria, the top 5 decks are either combo in Dimir Inverter and Lotus Breach, or something with a companion. With less tools to deal with combo decks compared to Modern, it’s a lot easier for these decks to overrun the format. 4 of the top 5 decks came about as a result of Theros (Dimir Inverter, Lotus Breach, Sultai Delirium, Mono-White Devotion). This format used to be a beacon in a sea of bad formats, but ever since the release of Theros: Beyond Death things have been different. Most strategies are single minded with enacting their own gameplan and interacting minimally with the opponent (a trend we are seeing in all formats). 4 cards are currently banned in Standard with a new banned and restricted being announced for next week. The core of Uro, Growth Spiral, and Nissa creates an oppressive pressure on the meta that is felt no matter what deck you are playing. There are dozens of ways to cheat on mana in this standard, from playing a turn 4 Agent of Treachery, Fires of Invention doubling or tripling your mana, and Green being ludicrously strong. Every sanctioned format has suffered as a result of the design decisions of 2019 and beyond, and has led to formats that are completely different from where they were a year ago. Oko is easily the most powerful Planeswalker of all-time, taking the previous throne of Jace, the Mind Sculptor a 9 year old card and companions break the game in a completely different way. Teferi, Time Raveler is powerful because of how un-fun it is, and cards like Hogaak weren’t balanced with the Modern format in mind. Having stronger creatures than Shivan Dragon is good for the game, and new card types like Planeswalkers have provided really great design space.īut 2019 pushed the envelope in a way that was completely unprecedented. Power creep is inevitable, but it has largely been good for the game. Lightning Bolt is still a format all-star and dual lands can never be as powerful as a Volcanic Island. Fast mana can never be as fast as Black Lotus, and drawing cards can’t be as efficient or as good as Ancestral Recall. The Power Nine is a legendary set of cards that all other effects are balanced around. Unlike it’s cousins of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, many cards from Alpha are still considered to be the most powerful cards in the game. Is a game that prides itself on not suffering from power creep. Take a look at our range of planters and outdoor lighting options for even more ways to revolutionise your garden space.īrowse our range of decorative garden accessories today. Transform and shape your space to your specific preferences with B&M’s great range of foliage.įrom the subtle to the bold, B&M offers outdoor garden decorations in a huge spectrum of styles, from adorable animals to elegant water features. Or you use them in combination with guide rails as wind protection and privacy screen that can be moved to the side (format slide) or up and down (format lift). Contact us for a FREE quote Call 403.295. Tenax Privacy Screen 7.8-ft x 150-ft Green Model 2A120033 Provides 90 shade coverage Grommeted on all sides Home or professional use Find My Store for pricing and availability Tenax Privacy Screen 7. planter boxes enable the screen to stand freely on any flat surface, even in the wind. Garden OrnamentsĪdd a layer of ornamentation to your garden with our range of garden ornaments. Windscreen4less Heavy Duty Ience Privacy Screen Green 6 x 50 with Reinforced Gindings and Grass Grommets Garden Windscreen Mesh Net for Outdoor Yard. We are the regions leading supplier of professionally-installed retractable Phantom Screens for your doors, windows and large openings, including motorized screens. Create an outdoor sitting nook, add some privacy to your yard. Browse our range of outdoor sculptures and statues today. With our range of sculptures and statues, you’ll be able to transform your garden into a palatial estate. The clock won’t strike heavy with B&M’s great range of garden clocks and wall art. We’ve got a great range of garden animals and gnomes, ready to transform your garden into a magical wonderland. We’ve got a great range of decorative garden accessories for your home – including garden gnomes, wall art, and more. Easy to set up, the quality material is low maintenance so its stays looking good. Standing 1.8 metres high, the shade cloth screen extends up to 3 metres, or retracts to just the right length. Use our range of decorative garden accessories to personalise your garden and add a little panache to your home. Air Frame is a lightweight and foldable wind-bracing system compatible with the Carbon series CB5 and CB8 LED panels. Lookout Screens are the portable outdoor privacy screen solution that won’t damage your property as its free from nails and screws for installation. It is within this dreamscape that we start to play around with forced perspective but it is not long until we find ourselves off the beaten path of the simulation and trying to find our way back to the waking world alongside increasingly disorientating levels and less than helpful messages from Dr Glenn Pierce and the SOP. What this means with regards to Superliminal is that you can pick up an object and then place it far away from you so that now it is actually physically much bigger, or the other way around, which would make it much smaller.Īs the game begins we find ourselves in bed at the Pierce Institute heading into SomnaSculpt dream therapy, being overseen by doctors and a non-sympathetic and robot sounding "Standard Orientation Protocol". That there is the elevator pitch and, for the most part, it's all you really need to know.įorced perspective can be defined as a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear further away or closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. Bring any 3D object into the game and play around with mind-bending perspective tricks.Superliminal is a game that lets you play around with forced perspective. EXPERIMENTAL WORKSHOP SUPPORT Superliminal features Steam Workshop integration. of the commercial for Dr Pierces Somnasculpt dream therapy program. His artificial intelligence assistant, however, is having trouble understanding exactly how you’re here at all, and has other plans for you.ĭEVELOPER COMMENTARYWe’ve added an extensive developer commentary throughout the game, so you can learn the secrets and history behind the game’s development.ĬHALLENGE MODEThe overwhelming response from the speedrunning community to Superliminal inspired us to add a new Challenge Mode, which will score you per-level on metrics such as time to finish, grabs, and jumps. Superliminal is a first-person puzzle game based on forced perspective and optical. Superliminal Key Features: When you open your eyes, you’re now dreaming starting the main phases of this exploratory program. MAN VS MACHINEIn this fully-voiced adventure, Dr Glenn Pierce is doing his questionable best to guide you home and out of the dreamscape. Glenn Pierce, conveys to the player through radios, clarifying that they have totally forgotten about the player, and that the player is likely going through progressive dream layers. What you see isn’t always precisely what you get. Tread carefully as the world slowly unravels around you and subverts your expectations. PERCEPTION IS REALITYExplore a dream world where everything is exactly as it seems. By the time you open your eyes, you’re already dreaming - beginning the first stages of this experimental program. Dr Glenn Pierce is doing his questionable best to guide you home and. Pierce’s Somnasculpt dream therapy program. Superliminal is a first-person puzzle game based on forced perspective and optical illusions. WAKE UPAs you fall asleep with the TV on at 3AM, you remember catching a glimpse of the commercial for Dr. His artificial intelligence assistant, however, is having trouble understanding exactly how you’re here at all, and has other plans for you. Glenn Pierce in his SomnaSculpt Dream Therapy program Superliminal will be available on Steam with a celebratory 50 discount until November 12th, making it only 9.99 USDthe steepest discount ever Group therapy has never been cheaper. Players need to change their perspective and think outside the box to wake up from the dream. In this fully-voiced adventure, Dr Glenn Pierce is doing his questionable best to guide you home and out of the dreamscape. Players can select their sodas by pressing the buttons on the machine. It can also be found in the reception area. It can be found all over the place, but it is mostly found in dark rooms or hallways where the patient is not really supposed to go into. Puzzles in this game give you a sense of the unexpected. Dream Soda is a vending machine which can dispense soda cans. Superliminal is a first-person puzzle game based on forced perspective and optical illusions. The plaster of paris acts as a hardening agent, while the joint compound keeps the mixture smooth and workable. I covered this gap with drywall tape and a 50:50 mixture of joint compound and plaster of paris, sometimes called hybrid plaster. Once the sheetrock patch was up, there was a half-inch gap between the existing ceiling and the new patch. I screwed the sheetrock directly into the ceiling joists, which of course were now easy to find since I had completely exposed them. I used a 3-foot by 4-foot panel of sheetrock to fill in the area of missing plaster. Fortunately, I was wearing a respirator, so I wasn’t breathing in the history.Īfter a shower and some intensive shop vaccing, I went out and picked up a sheet of 3/8-inch sheetrock, which is about the same thickness as the existing plaster. Some of the dust that rained down on me probably originated in Industrial-Revolution-era coal fires. It must have settled in the space above the ceiling during the century-and-a-half since the ceiling was installed. It seemed to be the sort of black dust that tends to accumulate in cities. But as I pulled down the ceiling, I was showered in sandy plaster dust, which I expected, and a thick black grime of unknown origin, which I did not expect. I did my best to set up plastic drop cloths to seal off the floor and the washer and dryer. And then I set about peeling the old plaster away in big chunks.Įvery time I remove old plaster, I think I’ll be able to contain the dust, but it never works out that way. I used a utility knife to cut a line between the loose plaster and the stable plaster to prevent any damage to the stable parts of the ceiling, and to keep the area of missing plaster as square as possible so that it would be easy to fill in with sheetrock later. The loose plaster also had the consistency of damp cardboard, so I decided to pull it all down and replace it with sheetrock. When I tried pushing the loose plaster back into place, I discovered that a bunch of plaster chunks had gathered above the loose plaster, preventing it from sitting flush against the lath. I decided to leave the hole I had created in the ceiling for the time being and moved on to the ceiling’s main problem area – a roughly 3 foot by 4 foot section of cracked and buckled plaster that seemed ready to collapse at any moment. I did my best to gently secure the surrounding plaster with more plaster buttons, but in the end I was left with a mess. The plaster in this area was so soft that it seemed to be held together by the ceiling paint and little else. But as I tightened the screw on the first plaster button, the entire plaster button punched through the crumbly plaster. So instead, I settled for screwing the plaster buttons into the lath. But as we’ve already established, joists were hard to come by in this corner of the ceiling. To fully support the weight of the ceiling, it’s best to screw plaster buttons directly into a ceiling joist. I began working in a corner of the ceiling where a small section of plaster had come loose. Then, once the plaster is secure, the plaster buttons can be hidden with a skim coat of plaster or joint compound. The idea is that the plaster button distributes the pressure from the screw and prevents the surrounding plaster from cracking. Plaster buttons are special washers that can be used with screws to secure plaster to the underlying lath. But since a large portion of the ceiling in the laundry area had completely detached from the lath, and was fighting a losing battle against the forces of gravity, I decided to use plaster buttons to reattach it to the lath. Last year, I used construction adhesive to repair the loose plaster walls in the bedroom, which worked well and seems to be holding up all these months later. I would later discover that the ceiling joists in this part of the stairwell not only run in the opposite direction from what I had expected, but are also spaced at irregular intervals. Each new hole I drilled created a little cascade of plaster dust and loosened the surrounding plaster even more. After drilling a dozen holes in the ceiling, I hadn’t found a joist. A week and a half ago, I had just started repairing the plaster ceiling in my building’s common laundry area on the ground floor of the stairwell, and things weren’t going well. GB: Can you give us a brief summary of the background and history within the game, and what the player will ultimately be looking to accomplish? We've also added special high-resolution heads on the characters to really bring the cinematic experience to life. We've made a whole bunch of improvements on the engine for this game, including the ability to have more characters on screen and richer-looking higher-polygon characters as well. SFS: The engine is actually in its third generation on PS2 - it's a revision of the engine we used for the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. GB: Are you using an existing engine for FR: Demon Stone, or was it built exclusively for this new game? SFS: The jury is still out on that question! GB: Will the game be single-player only, or do you plan on offering cooperative or even online play? We're heading away from the traditional dungeon crawl, and towards a cinematic action adventure with the unique gameplay twist of being able to play any of the party members at almost any time in the game. Our primary goal is to take D&D to a new level of gameplay experience that exploits the power of today's game consoles. SFS: We started development in January of 2003, and we're currently finishing up the last set of levels for the game and getting ready to start tuning and squashing bugs. GB: When was development of Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone first begun, where do you currently stand in the development cycle, and What primary goals are you looking to achieve with this PS2 title? Answering our questions are Alyssa Finley (Producer), Don Daglow (President), J Epps (Design Director), HK Chao (Technical Director), Sarah Stocker (Senior Producer), Mark Danks (Technical Director), and Andrew Boyd (Audio Director): Up until now, not a whole lot was known about the game, but today we are lucky enough to bring you an interview about the game with several members of the Stormfront team. Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely.A couple of weeks ago, Atari announced that they were partnering with Stormfront Studios to develop a new Dungeons & Dragons action adventure for the Playstation 2 entitled Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone. Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior.
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