Friday, May 16, 2008

New Contest: Pigs on the Wing





From the Mind of Tim "Gambort" Gould came the cave racers.
From the strangeness of Reasonably Clever came the concept of making animals the pilots.
From the magic of Brickforge comes some swanky swag.
(And Prizes from Reasonably Clever and Tim as well!)

Click to read all about it.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Contest!

Anonymous said...

say if u use a horse for the pilot
can u put a minifig on the horse?

Anonymous said...

Er, one small problem. (suprisingly)I HAVE NO ANIMALS!!!!!!!one!!!!!!one!!!

OK, I've calmed down. Are brick/minifig built animals aloud?

Anonymous said...

I also DON'T HAVE ANY TRANS-ORANGE BRICKS AND ONLY ONE SHOVEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only way I could possibly enter is if I were aloud to twist at least one of the rules.

Christopher Doyle said...

gaby:
Thanks. I think it has some real potential.

adam:

I suppose you could, as long as it was clear the horse was the pilot, not the mini.

dave:

You can't use minifig animals (Fabuland, the Werewolf) but if you build the animal out of bricks that'd be fine.

anon:
The 1x1 round in trans-neon-orange is fine, and very, very common. And you only need one shovel. (And a spear)

You can always enter a LDD model if you don't have the real bricks...

Anonymous said...

chris:

Do we have to use a shovel AND a spear, because I don't have a spear. (and for some reason my computer won't download LLD)

Anonymous said...

dave, anon, download LDD. they have animals and shovels now.

ive put the finishing touches to my repulscoptor (uploading soon) and will start building while quake wars: enemy territory is installing.

(as off-topic as i could get withough going off-topic.

Anonymous said...

damn, i was typing my post as anon was typing his second.

sorry for double post.

oops i missed the ) off the end of my last post.

Christopher Doyle said...

Anon:

Per the rules, the definition of "spear" is pretty easy to work with: "actual part is flexible so long as it's flattish and long"

But, yes, you need both a shovel and a "spear" to comply with the design requirements.

Anonymous said...

ah crud, there arent any trans orange (neon or not) studs in LDD. would a 1x1 brick or a cone be OK?

Anonymous said...

sorry for another double post, but as there arent really any flattish long objects in LDD... will an axe do?

Zacknut said...

MY GOD AM I CONFUZED!!

I'll wait till the example model.
There will be one right...?

kile said...

I will enter PoW Class 3...as that is the only prize I don't have. I wish I could get Tim's Pick, the 'Mystery Racer' I will begin working right away, just a couple questions:
1. Can the whole ship be one part?
2. Can a MiniFig be used ON the ship or somewhere around it as long as he is not the pilot?
3. Can it have a theme? (Jungle, Robot, etc.)
4. Can it have more than one pilot or more animals on the racer?

Christopher Doyle said...

takua:
Hopefully Gambort will comment with his thoughts, but my take is "if the parts don't exist in LDD, you'll have to use MLCAD or other digital software if you want a virtual entry."

kile:
You really just need to read the design specs a few times - and look at the cave racers that have already been built. Most of your questions will be answered by that...

Still, here you go:
1) Obviously not. You have to have the engine dots, slopes, shovel, etc.
2) I suppose, as long as the animal is clearly the pilot
3) Of course
4) No. One pilot per racer.

Geoffrey said...

Takua-777: There is a trans-orange color in LDD.

To locate it do the following:

Make sure "hide colors" is turned OFF.

Ensure you have the latest version of LDD, an older version of LDD might not work.

Go to the plate, modified, 3x3 with corner, image, and open it.

Go to the red 1x1 round plate, and go to the one next to it. This is the closest LDD has to trans-orange, it is neatly located in between the red and the trans-red color.

If that fails to locate it please post again, and I'll show you a graphical image of what you're after.

Anonymous said...

Chris, just as a quick question, in stead of a paddle for small animals, would a metal detector from a certain mini robot set suffice?

Christopher Doyle said...

pumpkenetics:

Unless Gambort contradicts me, I'm going to have to say no. He was pretty clear on which design elements were tweakable and which were mandatory.

Anonymous said...

Do the animals have to be 'real' animals? Or can we use any non-human figures? Lego dinosaurs would look interesting at 100s of miles an hour...

Christopher Doyle said...

Da_Higg:

Dinos would be legal animals. I'll go out on a limb and say dragons, too. Heck, even the 3-headed dog from the Potter sets.

The Martians, orcs, and bionicle minis would not be legal. Those are more "people" than animals.

Hopefully that helps show where the line is, but when in doubt just ask here.

Anonymous said...

How 'Flexible' can the spear part be? I've only got brown 'wood' spears which look awfull. Will dagger sufice?

Anonymous said...

if i enter class 3 can i have animals versus humans?

Anonymous said...

in class 3 if i make a track can it have obstacles?

Maarten said...

Hey Chris is it ok if I make a model in Blockland? (A silly game where you can build with Lego bricks online and chat with each other)

Maarten said...

And, I don't mean the pay-for-it-version, it's RTB.
You can find a forum about it at
www.blocklandcentral.com

Christopher Doyle said...

Da_Higg:
I think a dagger would be a bit too far of a stretch.

Anons:

As long as there's at least one animal-piloted racer, you'd qualify.

As to track design, that's entirely up to you.

Maarten:
No, that'd be "other competing bricks". Virtual models need to be in either LDD or MLCad.

Anonymous said...

No daggers?! Unless you can accept pirate swords I wont be able to enter..

Gambort said...

Da Higg> I probably would allow a dagger so long as it was used well (as in looked like the end of a spear). Likewise a scimitar.

Everyone> The whole point of the rules is that they're simple, arbitrary but absolutely necessary. The less you follow them, the less likely you are to do remotely well... that is life.

Anonymous said...

Also can we enter more than one class?

Anonymous said...

How precisly does 'ribbed for pleasure' work for a high speed racer? Surely it would slow the racer down.

Anonymous said...

Why the contest is not in the contests label?

Anonymous said...

give chris and gambort a chance to answer guys!

btw, im still unsure, will an axe do as the "spear?"

Anonymous said...

This "ribbed for pleasure" aspect isn't clearly shown on the image you've supplied, could you possibly post a clearer image please?

Anonymous said...

Sorry about this it's just that I don't have a clue what "ribbed for pleasure" is.

Anonymous said...

I only have 1 Trans orange 1x1,so can i use a transred?I wanna use a monkey,but LDD Doesnt have that.Plus Mlcad doesnt work for me.

Gambort said...

To chime in again...

The rules are as the rules say. There is little leeway other than what is spelled out in the rules themselves. If you can't meet them just don't enter.

To answer some specific points:

1) Most minifig weapons (including an axe) are a suitable substitute for a spear IF USED WELL (note the capitals, that means the point is important).

2) The paddle is a requirement. NO SUBSTITUTE.

3) A sport in which animals hang from the back of a high speed racer is not sensible. The ribs are the least of your worries.

4) Ribbed for pleasure involves two 1x1 slopes next to each other as pictured. I'd guess that about 80 people have worked this out already. If you cannot then please just don't enter.

5) I AM A GRUMP. If it is clear you haven't paid attention to the rules your mark will be very, very low. Remember this before submitting entries.

Anonymous said...

Great... Where am I going to get 1x1 orange slopes... Actually where would I get 1x1 slopes in the first place?

Anonymous said...

Edit: found some! thank you Mars Mission and your horrible colour scheme.

Nick said...

On the topic of Blockland, I made this the other day.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Spenny/Blockland/STUFFS/blocklandkillsuperman.png

I'm the person at the front and everybody else is awesome except the pink guy in the back and the solid black guy in the front. :D



And I might actually join this one, I've got a few ideas for animals that would work. One of them I bet nobody else will use. :D

Anonymous said...

Hey
I have some more questions:
1) Parrots/eagles do not fit onto a paddle part and only have one connection point. What alternatives are allowed?
2) Tim says that the ribs must be two cheese slopes, but Chris says it must be anything to create a ribbed effect. Could you clarify? And are more than two slopes allowed?
3) Spiders have a clip connection. Does the rule of thumb disqualify them too?
4) In a diaroma, if there is at least one rule-abiding racer, is a monkey-flown racer allowed, given that it could be considered "background", as it is not defined as a racer?
Thanks

Christopher Doyle said...

SlyOwl:

1) Drat. Um. You can use 1x1 rounds to extend down to the paddle. Or, you can..uh...okay, I'm open to suggestions on this one.

2) I phrased it that way for the Duplo Racers to be included. The word from Tim is that on a standard-scaled racer you should use 2 1x1 slopes. If you want to use more than that, go for it.

3) No - spiders are fine. I'm just going to make a list of the legal LEGO animals to put this one to bed. Look for that list sometime tomorrow assuming I get a chance.

4) Yes.

Christopher Doyle said...

Slyowl:

1) Just tried this - you *can* use the paddle - just insert the handle into the bird. (Did I just type that??)

Sure, the linkup to the racer will be a bit different, but hey, this contest is all about diversity...

Anonymous said...

Is there a limit to how big the racer can be? If we use a dino or a dragon, it would have to be a decent size. Not that I'm trying to bring reality to the cave racers.

Anonymous said...

Chris - Thanks. However, it looked rather odd, so I used hands, aiming to recoup lost points on aesthetics...
And another question - On Duplo racers, can the shovel be replaced with a Duplo shovel?
Thanks

Christopher Doyle said...

SlyOwl:

A Duplo shovel is perfectly fine.