Hello! For this article, I’ll be taking you on a musical journey taking a closer look at 4 different genres. Don’t worry, it's not all going to be Green Day. :) Isn't it kind of interesting how music can remind you of special moments? You might even rediscover some songs you used to love on this list! Each week is a different genre, and there are 5 songs (one for each day of the school week) that fall into that category. I challenge you to bookmark this page and listen to the music for each day. Maybe you'll love a song you hadn't heard before! I hope you enjoy listening to these songs! Week 1, Alternative:
Week 2, Classic Rock:
Week 3, Indie:
Week 4, Pop:
Also, if you have some extra time, I suggest you listen to The Normal Album by Will Wood. It deserves to be mentioned, but I honestly can’t figure out what genre it is. My favorite track is Memento Mori: The Most Important Thing in The World. I highly recommend you check it out! By: Livia Mardiros Every new school year kicks off with a few questions we answer on repeat as we reconnect with classmates and teachers after the summer break, "How was your summer?... Did you travel anywhere?..." "Ya like jazz?" I know, at this point I’m just a walking and talking Bee Movie script. A question that brings most of us comfort as we awkwardly navigate striking up a conversation with new students is, "Do you play Roblox?" Followed by "What's your username?" you can learn a lot about a person by their username. Chances are, if you don't play Roblox, you know someone who does; awkward situation avoided. During this pandemic, more and more kids have turned to Roblox to make new friends and discover new games to ward off utter boredom. In fact, the Roblox platform has grown so rapidly due to COVID-19, with revenue up 68%, it's now a public company on Wall Street! With that, I thought now would be a great time to review a couple of the most popular games on the platform: "Adopt Me!," "Royale High," and "Welcome to Bloxburg." Game Stats: Created on 7/14/2017 Typically 350,000 people playing Has had 21.5+ billion visits in total The most recent update included pet greetings Personally, I don’t play the game Adopt Me all that much. But, to give credit where credit is due, it’s a fantastic game! Even if we were rating the games based just on the graphics, the trees alone in this game would get a 10 out of 10. The aesthetic of the world is just super pleasing and it gives off this bubbly vibe to it - the people at DreamCraft have made a really cool world. The pets are also adorable, I can see why people spend all their time collecting them. Overall, not my favorite gameplay-wise but definitely a well-made game! If you like collecting-based games, well-made maps, and roleplaying, then this game is for you! A similar game to Adopt Me is Brookhaven RP, another popular Roblox game. In Brookhaven you also roleplay, and the community is pretty similar to Adopt Me. “Royale High” is another very popular game on Roblox, published by Callmehbob and developed by the Royale High team. You collect diamonds, roleplay, level up, and dress your character with the latest accessories! As you play the game, you can collect diamonds hidden around the map to buy new seasonal sets from the shop. Currently, I’m collecting diamonds and saving for October and the Halloween accessories, and it’s been pretty fun! There are so many places to go where you can hunt for diamonds, so every day you can go somewhere new! Game Stats: Created on 4/10/2017 Typically 70,000 people playing Has had 5.8+ billion visits in total The most recent update included an Easter/Spring egg hunt In my opinion, this is one of the best games on the Roblox platform. I play it every day and have spent at least 10 hours on the game in the last week. There’s so much to do in the game, from collecting diamonds (the in-game currency), roleplaying, and dressing up your avatar! I personally like to collect diamonds and save up for new sets, and I love making avatars for myself to use as reference to draw. If you like creating outfits and working to buy new items, then Royale High is for you! If you look past some of the bad sides of the community, it’s a really fun game. The developers work really hard on making the game perfect, and all the designers make incredible 3d models for the game. If you really enjoy Royale High, then you should try Welcome to Bloxburg! It’s another creative game, but instead of creating outfits, you build houses. You also work for in-game money to help buy furniture for your house. The next review in this article is actually about Welcome to Bloxburg, so keep reading if you’re interested! Last, but not least, Welcome to Bloxburg by Coeptus! This game does cost a one-time fee of 25 Robux to play, but if you have some to spend it’s a really good purchase. You can do so many things, like roleplay, build houses on your own or with friends, and explore the city. The developers are constantly adding new game mechanics and build items, so it always has me coming back every update to see what’s new. I enjoy the building houses aspect of the game, but even if you don’t like that kind of stuff, I bet you could definitely find some enjoyment out of the other great parts of the game! Game Stats: Created on 11/4/2014 Typically has 75,000 people playing Has had 4.2+ billion visits in total The most recent update included the ability to scale items, open/close shutters, and added new chandeliers. I have been playing Welcome to Bloxburg since I joined Roblox, and it’s been one of my all-time favorites for years. I like to draw inspiration from Zillow (or any house website) and find a floorplan and exterior of a house on the website and then try and build it in Bloxburg. In order to get the money to build the house, I personally like to work as a pizza delivery person, you drive around on a motorcycle delivering pizza to NPCs. It’s pretty fun, and it makes a lot of money.
As previously mentioned, Royale High and Welcome to Bloxburg are very similar. I already talked about that though, so I’ll recommend a game I’m pretty sure is what inspired Welcome to Bloxburg, The Sims 4! The Sims 4 is one of my favorite games right now, and it was probably the main inspiration for Welcome to Bloxburg. They were released around the same time, and in earlier phases of the game, the user interface looked identical. Overall, if you want to expand on Welcome to Bloxburg, The Sims 4 is the right game for you! It’s available through EA’s Origin on Windows and Mac. Well, that's my take of three of the most popular games on Roblox. Roblox has a ton of great games, and I play most of them, so I'm sure a few of you are reading this thinking, "Hey! What about Arsenal or Tower of *Bleep*?” I know, I know - but if I reviewed them all this article would be more like a book! I like to play games other developers have created, but I also enjoy making and publishing my own games through Roblox Studio... maybe a future tutorial article for our gazette. Check out my group Crestfallen Clothing to see the game and clothing items I've designed, and feel free to email me with games you have made or games you love... maybe I'll review them in a future article! By: Livia Mardiros
Hello!! As you all may know, spring break is coming up! Since most of us can’t travel, I’ve created a bingo board of 24 fun spring activities you can do at home. Feel free to print out the board and cross out which activities you do with a sharpie or a stamp. Hope you all have a fun-filled spring break!
By: Livia Mardiros
Have you ever caught yourself watching an animated movie and realized you are so drawn in by the incredible details in the characters you’re not even following the movie plot anymore? This happens to me all the time! I’m truly fascinated by the lighting, character models, and beautiful environments. I learned these incredible animations are created by 3D Modelers and 3D Animators working together, and I jumped headfirst into learning everything I could about how to do this myself. 3D Modeling is a form of digital art where an artist can create anything in a 3-dimensional space (like humans, objects, animals, just to name a few). These 3D creations are called a “Mesh” and are developed with skill sets like digital modeling and digital sculpting. In digital modeling, the artists create geometrical shapes then manipulate the vertices, faces, and edges. In digital sculpting, artists begin with a geometric shape then add to it to change the overall geometry of that shape, just like you would when sculpting with clay in real life. In addition to animated films, you may have seen 3D Meshes when playing your favorite Roblox game or outfitting your avatar with accessories from the catalog. These are created, uploaded, and sold by Roblox UGC Creators - UGC meaning User Generated Content - and joining the UGC Program requires approval through their extensive application process. I hope to apply to become a creator soon once I have a portfolio prepared for the application! Careers in 3D modeling is a highly specialized field and combines advanced math and computer skills. If you want to study 3D modeling in college, you should look into degree programs in Computer Games Development, Computer Graphics and Motion Picture Technology, Visual Computing, and Visual Effects. I strongly suggest mastering the basic design techniques of 3D modeling like how to bevel, composition, extrude, and lighting, and you’ll be able to apply this knowledge to any of the different software used in the industry. The standard software program is AutoDesk’s Maya, and studios like Dreamworks (Shrek & Bee Movie), Pixar (Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story), and Blue Sky (Rio and way too many Ice Age movies no one wanted) all own and use proprietary software. So again, mastering those basics will help you later if you want to do this for a living! I’m learning 3d modeling by using the open-source (and completely free!!) program Blender and I put together a quick start guide for you if you want to get started with 3D Modeling too! I recently created these Meshes for my portfolio:
Here’s an example of a fully rendered scene I modeled, textured, and added lighting to. I 3d modeled the “earth orb” as I like to call it, the laptop, the desk, and the wallpaper behind it. I also beveled the wall and UV Unwrapped all the meshes in the scene. This was the first full render I did with image textures.
The Tools You’ll Need:
Here’s How to Get Started in Blender: https://youtu.be/PlsfaenZXiA
Pro tip: Use a reference image to know what you’re making - an example of this would be to select a chair from the IKEA online catalog and view the chair from all angles, so you are familiar with its construction. Then keep this reference to refer to it as you model and when you return to your project later.
By: Livia Mardiros
For this release, I’ve created a new interactive quiz for you all to enjoy! It’s almost March 2nd, and do you know what that means? It’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday! Will you take this quiz in a boat? Will you take it wearing a coat? You can take it here or there. You can take it anywhere! Find out which Dr. Seuss character YOU are! By: Livia Mardiros
Guess what month it is? It’s the month of Valentine’s Day! For this interactive article, I’ve put together a bingo board of 24 things you can do to be kind. Try and make a bingo of kindness by getting 5 in a row! I encourage you to print out the board and cross out which ones you’ve done with a sharpie or mark it with a stamp (you could even mark it off with some festive Valentine’s stickers!) Of course, it’s important to be kind all year round, but in these challenging times, it can mean a lot to lift each other up with some random acts of kindness! :D By: Livia Mardiros Are you baking festive holiday creations in your kitchen this season?! We would love to see your holiday treats! If you need inspiration we added four recipes for you to try below. If you have another recipe or idea, feel free to give that a go too. We are accepting “nailed its” and “failed its,” so no need to stress over making them look perfect.
Remember to share your delicious desserts as you bake over Christmas break and be sure to take a picture before you eat them all! |