jane-dump

[jane-dump]

Learning about slip stitches, and conquering my fear of M1Ls, with ChrisBerlin’s Wölkchen Tuch scarf.

I picked up some Lamana Roma while traveling for work. It’s $, but holy shit is it unbelievably soft. I waffled on getting it, but ultimately I figured that, since work was paying for my food and stuff that week, I was already saving money, so buying this yarn was only breaking even.

I did it with US 5 needles, but looking at the pattern again seems to imply that 6 is the more correct choice. Womp womp. Even increasing up to the recommended number of stitches, I finished the project with a whopping 5g of yarn left, which doesn’t sound like a lot til you learn that it’s only a 20g ball. So when I make it again (oh, I will, it’s lovely), I’ll probably use a 6 or even a 7.

It’s also very curly, so I think that means I now have to get over my fear of blocking. (Or is it laziness? Either way.)

I can’t seem to get a good photo of it (doesn’t help that it’s 90dF over here, so wearing a super warm scarf is a nightmare), but the shape is pretty much just an elongated triangle. Increase til the halfway mark, decrease at the same rate back. The false security of diagonal/triangular knits is always funny; they go so fast, in the early rows, until they don’t.

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Another motion graphics menu for Rocket Dog! This time it's the high score initials entry screen for the arcade version.

Once again, this menu was designed by @jane-dump based on a 90s rave flyer and implemented in C++ by me.

Here's the (wonderfully headache inducing) flyer:

And here's a still of the menu:

You can learn more about this upcoming game at indomitablerocket[dot]dog

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I don’t photograph that well, but I do knit reasonably good!

This is the Lovely Ribbed Hat from Purl Soho, with their recommended Season Alpaca yarn. I did the biggest size because I have a massive head.

This is probably the last day in NYC that I can wear a winter hat, so I’m glad I hurriedly finished it off this morning.

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I had a half skein of lace weight variegated yarn left over from a different project, so I decided to try my hand at knitting a simple lace-y pattern. I didn’t realize just how much length it would make!

This is the Dandelion Scarf pattern from Rachel Stecker, which you can find for free on Ravelry. It looks harder than it is—it’s just knitting and purling, and then every few rows, you do a row of some K2togs and YOs. The yarn is Neon Rainbow in lace weight from East Coast Yarn Company.

I’m usually an all-black kinda gal, so my plan is to donate this scarf to a fundraising raffle for an art project some friends are making. It’s nice and airy, just warm enough for a cool summer night.

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The next graphics priority for @andymakesgames's The Indomitable Rocket Dog was the level complete screen. Andy gave me this flyer as potential inspiration:

I gave it a whack, but it wasn't quite right. We couldn't really get it to a place where it had all the info (your grade, your time, the various ranking data, the menu options to keep going) presented in a readable way that also went well with the geometric symmetry of the original poster.

Andy then had the idea to use this style on the "new high score"/"put in your initials" screen instead. I think it's a way better fit and, quite frankly, that it slaps.

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I have long been feral for the extraordinary vibrancy and saturation of risograph prints. My apartment is covered in riso prints bought from students and professional artists. I was devastated when I realized I missed this year’s student riso fair at SVA. Riso prints are so juicy, I just want to eat them.

I’m not much of a visual artist myself, but it’s long been on my bucket list to try making one. And out of nowhere, while on a work trip across the country, I stumbled across a mini print studio in an auxiliary building that had a risograph machine!!

I didn’t have enough time to learn how to do it properly, but with enough grit and Spectrolite (and Austin, who kindly guided me through using the machine at 1AM), all things are possible.

I made a print of my games (original game art by Jenny Jiao Hsia) and also designed and printed one to celebrate the 10th anniversary of @andymakesgames’s PARTICLE MACE.

They both have flaws but I don’t care. I was l, and still am, absolutely giddy. And I’ve only eaten a couple.

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I've spent about two weeks working on implementing the level select menu that @jane-dump designed for The Indomitable Rocket Dog! I've been teaching myself a ton about shaders as I work on this game and I think it's really paying off.

Just like she did for the title screen, this menu is based on real 90s rave flyers. Here are the two she primarily based the design on:

And here's the mock up she handed off to me:

Soon I need to get back to working on the game!

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Andy’s LWotC Notes & Guide (v 1.2)

This is pretty niche, but I maintain extensive notes while playing XCom 2 Long War of the Chosen (a very expansive/brilliant overhaul mod).

Andy’s LWotC Notes & Guide (v 1.2)

I took some time to clean it up into a very large collection of tips & tricks learned from several successful and many unsuccessful Legend/Ironman campaigns.

It is a hard mod to get into because it is very deep but not tutorialized well so I'm hoping this doc can be helpful to anybody curious about it. I'm particularly pleased with the class guides which are the result of a lot of experimentation.

It recently got pinned to the LWotC subreddit!

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A (low-key) cosplay: Majima Goro

Inked by hand by me. The best outfit I'll never make again.

I've heard the tumblr algorithm hates links, so peep my full process on the post before this one.

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A (low-key) cosplay: Majima Goro

I've never been a cosplayer. Heck, I don't even really dress up for Halloween.

But shortly before the 2024 Music and Games Festival (aka MAGFest) (yeah, I know, really needs a new name nowadays), I finished all the entries in my favorite game series, Yakuza/Like A Dragon. I was feeling the heat and got a wild idea to do a lightweight cosplay of everyone's favorite gremlin, Goro Majima.

I knew from the start that any cosplay I did had to be low-key. Bless the folks who wear wigs and facial hair and carry big accessories for their cosplays--my volunteering schedule, forgetfulness, and sensory issues could never. But I figured I could do a cute little low-key cosplay somehow: boots, pants, jacket, and of course, The Tattoo.

It seemed easy: someone on Etsy sells temporary tattoos of his whole irezumi, with loads of amazing customer cosplay photos. I hit 'order', and figured I would just get some pleather pants and an eyepatch, apply those tattoos, find a strapless tank, and be done with it.

It was not that easy.

The mail came, and immediately, I realized a couple of problems:

I didn't size the tattoos correctly, so when they came in the mail, they were obviously way, way too big for me. (My fault entirely. They have multiple sizes and even do custom sizing--I just spaced.)

I like to shower a lot at MAGFest (I play a lot of dance rhythm games lol), and that doesn't mix well with temporary tattoos.

I, obviously, needed to cover up my chest, but there weren't a lot of good ways to do that without restricting range of motion (like a backless bustier) or covering the tattoo (which I was stubborn and didn't want to do).

And the most important one, which I should have realized already: I work during MAGFest!

I've been part of Arcade Commons for years. At MAGFest, we're responsible for bringing, maintaining, staffing, and running events for a whole pile of indie arcade cabinets. That involves a whole lot of schlepping, maintaining, running around, carnival barking, and all that. So if I was going to cosplay for a significant amount of time, I needed something that would:

Be durable enough for moving arcade cabinets around;

Be flexible enough to lift stuff, plug stuff in, gaff tape things down, etc.;

Be warm enough for the cold of the main hall (it gets so cold when there's not a billion people in it!!!!), but also

Be cool enough to not drown in sweat doing endless runs back and forth for supplies, events, food, etc.

So unless I wanted to only wear the cosplay for a brief amount of time off-shift, a temporary tattoo and bandeau wouldn't cut it.

I started noodling on better solutions. I could just grab a snakeskin jacket to be warm and do the area around my collarbones, but I didn't like the idea of covering most of the costume at any given time, and I wanted to do the whole thing anyway. A t-shirt with the tatt would be okay, but I wanted more of an illusion effect.

And then I settled on an idea that I imagine a lot of cosplayers have invented before: skin colored mesh over a skin-colored tank. I could get a mesh bodysuit and just draw the irezumi on it with fabric dye markers. Then I would have the durability of fabric; the coolness of the mesh; and the extra layer of warmth of the tank top.

The problem is that "just" drawing the irezumi on it would be hard--just like applying the tattoo to my body would have been. Perhaps it was worse, since even if I did it 1:1, the bodysuit would stretch over my in unexpected ways, leading to distortion. Corners and meeting points were also a nightmare, as they'd also need to be carefully aligned along 3D body dimensions. Plus I had to actually figure out a way to actually draw the damn thing on.

I wish I could say that I came up with some genius solution with iron-ons or transfer materials or something. In the end, it just took a shit ton of precise inking and time (and a few runs at finding dye markers that didn’t bleed—test your materials first, folks).

After fucking up a bunch of cheap mesh body suits, I developed the following workflow:

Trace the unstretched bodysuit onto cardboard

Cut the cardboard to make a sort of body insert

Get a high res image of the irezumi

Take the cardboard body measurements and use those numbers/ratios to scale the irezumi to the proper overall size

Print the scaled tattoo pieces out on regular paper and tape them together/around the cardboard insert to make a traceable reference

Stick the reference cardboard body inside the bodysuit

Carefully trace the most critical elements onto the bodysuit using a water-soluble fabric marker, to create a consistent guide/reference to ink against

Put the suit on, review the placements, and wash off/redraw any glaringly uneven or poorly placed lines

Put on a good podcast and carefully, carefully ink the bodysuit with proper fabric dye markers, one little flick at a time (kinda like a tattoo!)

Carefully, carefully freehand any weird little corners where the patterns didn't line up quite right

I had to do this while also carefully taking it out to try on every so often, to make sure everything still lined up properly and actually looked good on my body dimensions.

There really weren’t any shortcuts: it just took a really, really long time.

And then somehow, suddenly, it was done. Right in time: I think I finished it maybe 2 days before I had to get down to DC. Then came the test: would it work? Would it last?

Luckily, the answer was a resounding yes. It was cozy when the main hall cleared out and everything got cold. It was cool when sprinting across the Gaylord to pick up tools or get food. It easily survived nightly laundry washes in the sink (a non-negotiable if i was going to wear it repeatedly) without bleeding, and was always dry by the time I woke up for my shifts. It was even breathable enough to do my yearly 4AM rhythm game marathon. When I had to push or wrangle cabinets, it was easy to move and the mesh was durable enough not to tear. And it was convincing enough that a couple of MAGFest employees went to pull me over for being topless, before realizing and having a laugh. It was perfect.

I worked hard enough on this that you better believe I'll keep wearing it, yearly, til it rips or doesn’t fit. For MAGFest 2025, my partner @andymakesgames even had the brilliant idea to dress as the hated couch guy enemy. It was a big hit (pun intended).

Serious respect to all the hardcore cosplayers out there--I don't know how you do it. I got a few people asking if I sell these, and the answer is no, never, my back and hands could not make it through a second one. This was by far the best outfit I'll never, ever make again.

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that's my sticker, baby!

For the holidays my partner designed an sticker in honor of my favorite game. (the top sticker she made with our label maker)

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For all you XCOM sickos out there: I made my partner @andymakesgames this custom sticker for Christmas. The font isn't commercial so don't sell this on redbubble you jerks

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I was pretty pleased with this translation of poster -> screen for @andymakesgames' Rocket Dog on this one, not gonna lie.

Reference/inspiration:

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I've been helping make screens for @andymakesgames' The Indomitable Rocket Dog, just to get some juice into it while it's being developed/before he gets a proper Visual Artist for it.

Andy is really interested in having it fit a '90s rave/garage style, so loads of the inspiration/moodboard content has been these cool rave flyers. It's been fun to try and map game functionality to the super dynamic styling of these kinds of posters.

References/inspiration: