The Return of HeroTeX

HeroTeX is a LaTeX package which automatically formats the standard one-page Quest notes used in HeroQuest.

All you need to get started is:

• a PDF HeroQuest map generated from (as from HeroScribe)
• the HeroTeX package
• and a free LaTeX account at Overleaf.com.

The rest of this post will demonstrate how to quickly create your first Quest.

HeroScribe

You are here because you are using HeroScribe for Quest maps and would like to create authentic looking Quest notes to match. I run Linux, and from there "java -jar heroScribe.jar" works right out of the box after downloading the HeroScribe package.

I'm sorry that I cannot help you with this part if you are having issues.

HeroTex Package

Download the HeroTex zip file. You may want to unzip it and have a look, but this is not necessary.

There are many files, but most of them are graphical assets with duplicate entries for Color and Black & White formats as well as support for Chaos/Dread naming conventions.

LaTeX

If you already know how to use PDF LaTeX and have a full fonts package installed, you should be able to compile and view the DemoQuest. And this should be enough to get you using all of the provided tools.

If you are not familiar with LaTeX, then you can get setup quickly by heading over to Overleaf.com and creating a free account with unlimited projects (of limited scope). Thankfully these simple HeroQuest documents are within those limits. I signed up with my Google account and it was very easy.

1. Create your Overleaf account
2. Create a New Project, select "Upload  Project" and feed it the HeroTeXv01.zip file you just downloaded.
3. Switch the "main document" to DemoQuest.tex
1. Press "menu" button on the Overleaf website
2. Find the "Main document" entry and change it from the random file it has selected by default to DemoQuest.tex.
4. Press the Recompile button to generate the PDF

Generating your own quest involves uploading your own map and entering your quest text.

You should be entering your notes in the "code editor" and as text and a few useful commands. I took a quick look at the visual editor and I do not see how it will be helpful for us, but I'd like to be proven  wrong here.

The DemoQuest has some helpful comments, but you can ask me questions in the comments here if you need help.

Enjoy!

Streams of Silver - Completed Build Log

 "Streams of Silver - Caldwell Cover"

R.A. Salvatore, Streams of Silver, Forgotten Realms / D&D

Build Log list

1. Getting Started
2. Cover Plate
3. Terrain
   
4. Backdrop
5. Completed Scene
   
6. Box and Electrical

Final Video

Streams of Silver - Box and Electrical

 

Completed Booknook!

The final developments for this nook (and my other booknooks) involves building the wooden case and adding lights.

A Free Standing Case

Because the skulls on sting are kind of delicate, I constructed the case separately such that the scene could be installed once completed. This represents a large improvement in my construction method.

The empty wooden box

I cut a few scraps of foam to match the interior size of the book nook. Then I fitted the foam core outer shell of the nook around it and hot glued the pieces together at the corners. The interior core is not glued to anything and although tightly fit, can be slid out at any time.

To create the box, thin sheets of bass wood were glued to the foam core (and each other) with wood glue. The wood sheets are over-sized / cut to approximate dimensions only, and once the glue is dry, the extended edges are trimmed and sanded flush.

This method worked well, and I labeled and saved the interior foam blocks for use in later projects.

Lights

5V USB charging power is used in all of my booknooks. To get started, I setup a sample circuit with a charger as the power supply and found that my white LEDs pull 6mA when connected in series with a 360 Ohm resistor. (the voltage drop across the resistor was 2.12V). With 6 lights, the nook will pull 36mA at 5Vm, less than 0.2 Watts.

I created a lighted top panel and test fit it in the nook several times. The curved part is designed to support and mount the background.

White LEDs poked through the foam core light panel

Then I wired the circuit with one resistor per LED as shown. This configuration prevents the variation in LED manufacture from routing too much current to any single LED.

And testing the system looks good!

Lastly I glued parchment paper over the top to diffuse the light so as not to cast harsh shadows.

Parchment paper diffuser attached

Then I carved wiring channels on the side of the nook to mount two low lights on the front. If we don't add these lights low and in front, then the miniature will be in shadow.

Channels for the recessed lights and wiring 

Front LED lights

With the lights installed (with the backdrop), the three wires were soldered to an old USB cable I cut the end off of.

Final wiring with strain relief (bottom left).

I also added a strain relief on the cable by building up a small pile of scrap bass wood and pinching / gluing the wire in place. Strain relief prevents accidental tugs on the cord from ripping apart the wiring inside the nook.

And in a final step (not shown), a back plate of foam core was added to the nook. The front and back plate are required for structural stability of the box.

Arcade1Up Coin Door Lights - 6mA USB

 

My Mortal Kombat II Deluxe cabinet in now Komplete with lit coin return plates (not functional buttons on this cabinet).

This is a really quick mod if you can use a soldering iron. I did this mod with my son and did not pause to take so many pictures.

Beginnings

I popped out the coin return faux buttons, replaced the coin door on the front panel, and marked points in the center.

The original idea was to drill holes the same radius as the LEDs in those spots. This worked really well. My standard LEDs pushed through to be stopped on the back side by a build in collar (the LED gets a little wider at the bottom), and were held securely.

Unfortunately, we were losing some light because the LEDs were too far back and blocked by being half embedded in the front panel. To resolve this we decided to counterbore (countersink) the LEDs by drilling a larger hole approximately half the depth such that the LED pushed farther out the front of the panel. This worked great.  But when I drilled out the second hole, the drill caught and I ended up going all the way through. :(

And this is where a better design comes in. I drilled out the first hole completely to match the second.

LED Placement

Since my holes were now large enough to pass through an entire LED, I decided to use a piece of bass wood as a mounting plate for my LEDs and circuitry. I taped the plate inside the cabinet, marked the holes, then drilled two small holes for each of the LED leads and mounted them with hot glue.

The hot glue will allow the LEDs to protrude further through the front panel and illuminate the coin returns better. This setup was test fit back into the cabinet and worked great. 

The Circuit

There are two basic power options inside the cabinet.

1. 12 Volts can be obtained by splitting off from the DC power supply
2. 5 Volt power can be grabbed directly from the PCBs USB port.

The original plan was to use the 12V power, but the simplicity and elegance of the USB connector option won me over. The Coin lights will turn on and off automatically with the PCB if the USB is used. To do this with the 12V power it would require splitting the power wire for the Marque, which are parts I do not have on hand. 

For the USB, we just need to be sure not to draw a meaningful amount of power away from the PCB. Two LEDs should be no problem.

To right size the LEDs for power consumption, I tested various resistors to see what an acceptable light level would be versus power consumed.

I found that for the red LEDs I had on hand, a 1k Ohm resistor had a 3.14V drop across it, meaning that the circuit was pulling 3mA.  And I will have two of these, so a single 6mA draw. This is very small.

Note: It is important to avoid the temptation to wire a single 500 Ohm resistor to power the two LEDs. Each LED is different due to manufacturing/lifetime variability and one LED will draw more current and wear out faster. It is best to provide separate resistors for each LED.

I cut the end off of an old USB cable, wired it up, and soldered it.

Final Installation

I used hot glue to attach the circuit to the board, and built up an attachment to the board for the connector cable which serves as strain relief. The strain relief protects the circuit in case the cable is pulled on.

The board was then taped in place inside the cabinet with the LEDs sticking through the holes.

And the USB attached to the PCB.

done!

Upgraded Arcade1Up Mortal Kombat II Deluxe Control Panel

MKII Deluxe Upgraded buttons and sticks

I got started on the Arcade hobby because I like to build things. However, the stock Arcade1Up MKII Deluxe cabinet is nearly perfect and also provides online game play (and there are many others to play on-line). This cabinet only needs a few things and will effectively remain "stock."

Buttons

The buttons are an easy swap. Suzo Happ buttons from T-molding.com with 75g Cherry switches fit into the existing holes exactly. And I already had Happ compatible 0.187in blade adapter wires from all of the usb controllers in the two earlier cabinet builds.

I also opted for labeled Player 1 and Player 2 button graphics (they are blank white buttons on the A1Up control panel).

Joysticks

The IL (Industrias Lorenzo) Eurostick sticks (Red) are the proper controls for Mortal Kombat (I, II, & III) and required a bit more effort to install.

First the existing joystick was removed. I was afraid this step might damage the control panel as the factory sticks are glued down and my Golden Axe Cabinet did not seem to want to come apart. But this time my putty knife knife slid easily underneath and it popped off without any trouble (just make sure you remove all of the screws first). 

Removal of factory stick with a putty knife 

Then I created a template and aligned it with the hole in the control panel.

Joystick template

I might eventually need through holes with machine screws and nuts to hold the stick on, but I pre-drilled guide holes and used some wood screws I had on hand and this seems very solid.

A tight fit!

Player 2 Joystick Wires

I decided to swap out player 2 first, in case there were any failures and it was a long time getting things hooked-up right.

The Player 2 spot is close enough to the encoder board that my existing 0.187 in wires (from the button mod) were long enough to service the joystick. The only complication is that the wires have 2-pin connectors as used on the encoder for buttons, but the joysick uses two 4-pin connectors to connect to the encoder.

I just removed the pins from the connectors (2 and 4 pin) and inserted the new wires into the connector (the pins are compatible!).

Using a micro screwdriver, just press on the exposed metal of the pin while pushing the wire in, then pull it out (all while pushing down). It may help to look this up and watch a few YouTube videos to understand (though my technique and these adapters is a bit different). If you need to push hard or pull hard, You did not quite get it and just try again (maybe practice on a different part you don't need first?).

With the connector swapped, the joystick was wired up and worked great.

Player 1 Joystick Wires

The Player 1 joystick was too far from the encoder and I opted to re-use the existing wires. They are soldered to the factory joystick, so I cut them and crimped on new blade adapters. The wires are small and blade adapters don't always crush and grab properly.  So I had to re-do this step a few times (maybe 2-8 failures?) 

Original wires with new blade adapters

Putting it Back Together

The control panel bottom cover (black plastic) no longer fits with the IL sticks. Player 1 is too far to the left and they might even be too deep.  However, this part is not necessary (and not visible) as long as you are careful when assembling or performing maintenance on the control panel.

Arcade Update

New Marquee

The new marquee for Golden Axe arrived today from Szabo's Arcades. The blacks are deep and it no longer looks washed-out. Really I would not really notice or care, but the custom marquee on the Contra cabinet motivated me to upgrade this one as well. 

After

Before

New Cabinet

And my office arcade is now Komplete with the addition of Mortal Kombat II.

I still have some minor modifications to make to Mortal Kombat II such as replacing the buttons, joysticks, and adding lights to the faux coin door.

Streams of Silver - Completed Diorama

 

Looking done!

Basing the Terrain

The terrain was base coated with a black paint and Mod Podge mixture. The Mod Podge stiffens up the foam and the the black paint lets you see what is coated and makes certain that any deep recesses you might miss when painting later a forgiving black color.

Then coating the near field flat surfaces with PVA glue and adding coarse sand adds the missing terain details.

Once that is dry, the sand is sealed to the base with the same Mod Podge and black paint mixture. 

Painting the Miniature

Breunor Battlehammer was painted up to match the cover art as best I could.

I used Army Painter Speed Paint where I could:

• Gravelord  Grey = Armor, helm, axe head, and shield
  
• Hardened Leather = Wood details (axe handle and shield)
  
• Fire Giant Orange = Beard

I highlighted the metal parts and finished the rest of the model with a random mixture of acrylic paints (Citadel, Vallejo, and Master Series Paint) and washes.

Too bad we don't really see this side

Going to have to go back and fix those eyes!

Battle worn shield (sorry no free-hand foaming mug standard)

Skulls

And it was finally time to hang the skulls, plant the spear, and drop a bunch more on the ground.

 

The ropes are made stiff with super glue and the skulls do not swing but vibrate a bit if knocked. 

Finishing & Painting the Terrain

The ground surfaces were quickly spray primed white and the background rocks were painted with a blue grey, washed, and highlighted with white (no snow sprinkled there).

The near field is a grey washed stone, highlighted with white and topped in spots with Woodland Scenics "Soft Flake Snow SN140"

Skulls and ropes paint up very quickly with just an earth shade wash.

Adding the Miniature

Bruenor was finally placed and green stuff (AKA kneadatite) was used to fill the gaps and make some uneven stone.

Then painted to match and covered with too much snow :(

The Final Diorama

At this point the booknook is largely done. 

It needs a case and lighting, which are not small tasks but will be completed without much change in the final product we can see here.