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Originally Posted by Chernobyl
Pretty cool, a modular arena! you can re arrange it in may different forms... but I like this layout - lots of driving and maneuvering required. does it have name?
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Thanks! The divider between inner and outer ring being as big as it is also provides some really hard choices, because you're looking at multiple turns if you have to go the long way...cutting back into the inner ring is great for shaking a tail during a dogfight where the pursuer is running low on Handling Status, and the obstacle dead center turns the inner ring into a glorified traffic circle...trying to go straight across without slowing down gets hairy.
Speaking of...the modular system itself is called Tilkendröm; I don't have a name for this layout [I was originally thinking "Red Ring of Death", between the paint on-hand and the chance to pay tribute to my lifelong hobby as a video gamer as well, but the more I think the more it's too corny even for my sense of humor...not to mention a bit grimdark compared to arena names like "Mighty Mike"], but describing it as a traffic circle there is giving me some ideas.
It ended up being modular because "largest blocks that are still practical" for my circumstances isn't the quadrants so common in the other 3D arenas. I have a tiny car, and tend to end up carpooling to conventions, so the 'largest block that's still practical' is a piddly 12in x 12in. The more I dwelled on it, the more I didn't like the idea of 'splitting' obstacles if I didn't have to...so instead drew tiles around the obstacles, and it all kinda evolved from there.
It took over 2 years of getting covered in sawdust and "I told you so"s from Magesmiley...who made a lot of these same mistakes when he first started building 3D arenas...to get it to the point it's at, but I'm proud of it all the same. Looking forward to see it painted, decorated, etc.
The first iteration was a laundry list of what not to do when making a multi-piece / modular arena. I didn't standardize tile sizes, the fence wasn't mounted to anything and would move/flex at the slightest provocation, there was no support structure to handle when the table underneath wasn't even [not all events can provide 6' rounds...sometimes it's on a pair of 4x2 rectangles]...it was great for a first effort, I still have it in a box in the attic, but to call it a learning experience is an understatement. You can see it here:
https://i.imgur.com/cvHcM2K.jpg.