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Old 05-23-2018, 09:23 AM   #1
TheAmishStig
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
Default Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Talking to Phil over on the Ogre Minis kickstarter, it dawned on me that I didn't post pictures from my spring convention to the forums. Only 4 players so they goaded me into being a 5th, but that meant more turns (and with it, more action) per person. A couple crashes, a couple explosions, and a laugh at my expense when another player took me out posthumously...gauged the distance wrong, and wasn't able to get out of the way of a freewheeling 'dead' car.

https://imgur.com/a/2RUqu

That's how the arena turned out, at least in unpainted form...it got down to the wire enough that something had to give, and the paint gave. Still not 100% happy with it [I'll never be 100% happy with it], but it's good enough that I'm going to finalize this one, rather than re-cut again. A couple blocks could have tighter tolerances, and I want to re-do the catch fence (the L shape doesn't travel well).

Magesmiley: The little cut-ins in the center of the walls were a good call, thank you for the recommendation. They were responsible for some tough decisions when cars were on the outer ring...do they drift to avoid, follow the natural line back towards the middle, coming out of the middle which way do they go, etc.

The support easel needs a little work yet, but there was plenty of positive feedback comparing it to the photocopied Movement and Control charts passed out...year in and year out a sticking point for getting people to give the game a chance is how intimidating the tables and charts and things look at first blush, so a lot of my work goes into taking the edge off for first-timers. The fonts need to be bigger, but! That one little easel is both the Movement table (to 150mph) and the Control table (to 150mph), condensed by taking advantage of patterns.

Movement is a single pass through the "0-0-0-0-0 to 1-1-1-1/2-1" pattern, plus a bit off to the side to keep track of how many times a car as 'wrapped around' back to a multiple of 50...and with it gained a +1 to whatever's on the chart.

Control meanwhile is "At Handling Status [column heading], you need to meet or beat [row heading] if your speed is greater than [cell contents].
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Old 05-23-2018, 09:55 PM   #2
Chernobyl
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: California
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

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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Old 05-24-2018, 09:53 AM   #3
TheAmishStig
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chernobyl View Post
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?
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.
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Old 05-27-2018, 08:03 PM   #4
Lindmark71
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

It looks nicely put together. Well done.

One question: what scale are you operating in?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Drive offensively.

Curt
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Old 05-28-2018, 03:15 PM   #5
Magesmiley
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Snohomish, WA
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishStig View Post
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.

Those were intended as don't do this. I did it. You'll regret it. :)


Glad this one turned out well. I look forward to seeing it painted.
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Old 05-28-2018, 05:17 PM   #6
Chernobyl
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: California
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishStig View Post
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.
Yeah, I know what that's like - The tables at kublacon were 6x2, so I had 4 tables to support the arena. enjoy finishing up the project!

Eric
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Old 05-28-2018, 10:34 PM   #7
TheAmishStig
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindmark71 View Post
It looks nicely put together. Well done.

One question: what scale are you operating in?

Inquiring minds want to know.
That game was played at 2X...figured if I was going to go to all this trouble, I might as well support 6th Edition [or at least, the last we knew 6th edition will be...subject to change and all that], and my typical con table 2X is pushing my luck anyway...but by changing up the tiles / cutting a couple more fence pieces / etc, it could work for anywhere from 1x to 3X.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magesmiley View Post
Those were intended as don't do this. I did it. You'll regret it. :)


Glad this one turned out well. I look forward to seeing it painted.
I know, and I've always taken them as the supportive old hat having a chuckle at a stubborn young buck having to learn some things the hard way. I both do and don't regret the first one...it sucks I had to scratch-build all over again for this year (let alone pay for another scratch build), but there's a lot I learned about the engineering that I might not have even had I listened from the get-go.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chernobyl View Post
Yeah, I know what that's like - The tables at kublacon were 6x2, so I had 4 tables to support the arena. enjoy finishing up the project!

Eric
Thanky thanky! Yeah, that was one of the things I learned the hard way with the first version...if I could go with bigger pieces then I could have just rested the piece over the edge, but needing such small chunks meant having to get creative.

The other thing I should have invested in a lot sooner: a tote box with wheels on it. One of the things I didn't consider was that a box that is comfortable when it's 10lbs is going to show all its ugly flaws once it's 45lbs.
Hard edges that dig in, the sheer weight of the thing, etc...lots of ways for it to be sub-optimal that you don't think about until you're lugging a fully-loaded tote box across a shopping mall, digging into your hands and slapping off your thighs the entire time.
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Old 05-29-2018, 08:52 AM   #8
Magesmiley
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Snohomish, WA
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishStig View Post
The other thing I should have invested in a lot sooner: a tote box with wheels on it. One of the things I didn't consider was that a box that is comfortable when it's 10lbs is going to show all its ugly flaws once it's 45lbs.
Hard edges that dig in, the sheer weight of the thing, etc...lots of ways for it to be sub-optimal that you don't think about until you're lugging a fully-loaded tote box across a shopping mall, digging into your hands and slapping off your thighs the entire time.
I bought a furniture dolly to move my gear. Haven't regretted it at all.
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Old 05-29-2018, 10:40 AM   #9
TheAmishStig
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
Default Re: Car Wars at 1D4con 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magesmiley View Post
I bought a furniture dolly to move my gear. Haven't regretted it at all.
I got a wheeled job box...which I really should have thought through more. Works great with the car's space limitations, and is a little topheavy when loaded but rolls around just fine. Problem is, I didn't stop to consider lugging that monster up and down the 2 1/2 flights of stairs to the attic, so am using it as a coffee table between conventions.
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