Post PAX Post: Saturday March 27th Part 2

After the RoosterTeeth panel, there was much hanging out with the RT guys before they kicked us out of the main theatre. The people that I’d been seeing in discrete little packets were all of a sudden in one place, and it was awesome. After chatting, and doing some stage dives into the sumo chairs, we adjourned to the expo hall. There was much to do before dinner, the Video Game Orchestra concert, and the live Late Nite JengaJam.

I had a different plan in mind. See, there was a group of Carnegie Mellon students that were at PAX to show off their school project. This project happened to be a Microsoft Surface, which was used to play Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. The SurfaceScapes Team had been on the radar since about November, but this would be the first time since then that their project would be on display. I stopped by the room where the demo was going on throughout the day, and was immediately stopped by PAX East personnel. Apparently the small room was at capacity and people needed to leave before more could be admitted. I waited patiently before being let in, and was awed by what I saw. The table was surrounded by players, while the SurfaceScapes team looked on. One of the students was at a laptop controlling the action, while a team of four players fought off goblins and then a dragon.

After a few rounds, the session was reset and I got to sit down and play a Goliath Barbarian. Since we knew that our “encounter” would only last for a few rounds, we nova’d immediately, blowing all of our available dailies and encounter powers on the initial group of goblin minions. If nothing else, it was cool to see the different powers being animated. After about 4 rounds, the dragon showed up and our session ended. I got to briefly talk to the team and even invited them onto the Late Nite JengaJam recording, but more on that later. For being in a beta state, the animations present in SurfaceScapes were polished and the controls flowed rather smoothly. One notable omission was the Charge action, which had yet to be implemented. Another issue was less with the SurfaceScapes and more with the Surface itself. The touchscreen required a very specific amount of pressure to activate. Too hard or too soft, and your input would not be recognized. The future of this project is also in doubt. Once the team graduates in May, it’s unclear just how much more work will be put into this, or whether or not this might become a product that Wizards of the Coast would make available to Surface owners in the public. If nothing else, we’ve seen the truly geeky side of the Surface, and it looks rad.

After the demo, we tried to go to dinner as a big group, but we found that almost every where had 3+ hour waits for a group our size. Defeated, we eventually ended back up at the Sheraton lobby, eating hotel food. I managed to order a pizza, and we ordered some s’mores as a desert with Chantell and Casey (Jeff William's precocious daughter) . Hanging out was fun, and was a welcome rest after a long day that was not even over. I got to see some wonderful friends that I’d missed dearly (Martha!!) and before I knew it, it was time to go to the concert.

If you’d listened to the last episode of Late Nite JengaJam, you’d know that The Video Game Orchestra was not to be missed. I for one love hearing my favorite video game soundtracks performed in an orchestral format, especially the 8-bit and 16-bit stuff. We were in for a treat, from Mario to Chrono Trigger to Final Fantasy and even a metal version of Castlevania! We even got a bonus orchestral metal version of the Final Fantasy boss battle. This was totally awesome, made more awesome since talking to Shota and Jeff.

After the show, we couldn’t rest for long. Finally, at long last, it was time to do my first live audience recording of Late Nite JengaJam…

TO BE CONCLUDED. Well, the Saturday part will be concluded. :)