Artanis I Posted May 24, 2016 (edited) My board entry for the maze contest: it's a castle fortress! This maze board is raised-level, to enable the use of real holes. It is much heavier than a standard board, but works fine with the tilt system. It may be the case that it causes this board to require more careful gear manipulation. Any ball that falls into a hole rolls around under the "floor" and can easily be retrieved at the castle entrance, in a similar manner to public billiards tables. Apart from one high-risk short-cut, the maze has one path, and can be traversed in either direction. The video shows how this works both with the "soccer balls" and marbles. The original board when placed in the tilt system sat too low to do the castle appearance justice, so an extra brick was added below it as shown. (All vision is of the final version.) The inclusion of those bricks also makes it easier to insert & remove the board from the tilt system, it isn't easy placing a 24x24 brick inside a 24x24 hole. Enjoy a demonstration video, in which you may possibly catch my poorly acted vocal reactions. Flickr set Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy. I have certainly had fun playing with the maze... Edited May 24, 2016 by Artanis I Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted May 24, 2016 The working holes look like a nice improvement, and I love how there are so many archways to get the ball through Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted May 25, 2016 The working holes reduce the playable area to 22x22, and also require space for ball retrieval. And as mentioned already, adds more weight. So the added functionality comes at a price. I had to use as many grey arch obstacles as I could fit, because I have billions of arches, and it seems so wrong to not use as many as possible after running out of everything else! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legojeroen Posted May 25, 2016 Cool maze! I really like that if the ball falls in a hole it comes back to you ;) How smooth is this maze in comparison to the 'regular' one, with this extra weight? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted May 26, 2016 I'm still yet to build the original boards and test that. Might have time tonight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted May 27, 2016 Having now tested the original board with stuck-in-the-mud type holes rather than these true holes with ball return, I find this method more fun. Brilliant! Glad you like it How smooth is this maze in comparison to the 'regular' one, with this extra weight? Actually (although I'm not sure if it's the weight or height or a combination of other factors) my board feels more controllable than the main one in the set. (Haven't tried the 2nd one.) Besides having long walls to lean up against, it's like you can "aim" the ball a bit more easily. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pittpenguin123 Posted May 27, 2016 you sure are a good voice actor. should go into the voice acting career Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted May 28, 2016 you sure are a good voice actor. should go into the voice acting career Not my best work, I wouldn't include this in my folio Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert8 Posted May 28, 2016 Very neat entry! The holes work perfectly I'd would suggest adding more castle decorations but overall very nice! you sure are a good voice actor. should go into the voice acting career Agree! Loved the "yay!" at 0:31 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted May 29, 2016 Very neat entry! The holes work perfectly I'd would suggest adding more castle decorations but overall very nice! Agree! Loved the "yay!" at 0:31 I want to embellish with details down the track, but for the contest this is all I could get done. Escape the prison, avoid the traps, save the princess etc. You guys... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yatkuu Posted June 3, 2016 Great design, I like that the shape of the maze is not a perfect square but it mimics the shape of a real castle - this actually opens up different maze design possibilities. Good job on the ball collection system too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted June 5, 2016 Great design, I like that the shape of the maze is not a perfect square but it mimics the shape of a real castle - this actually opens up different maze design possibilities. Good job on the ball collection system too! Thanks. The inclusion of the ball collection feature was what led to the non-square nature of the build in the first place, and the answer to the question "how to incorporate that into a castle?" seemed pretty clear Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheJiral Posted June 5, 2016 Neat Maze. The real holes obviously are the big highlight here and I am impressed that it seems to be working quite fine, also with the extra weight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted June 6, 2016 Thanks. I did get a bit rough with it a couple of times and the inner frame came apart at the corner. I don't know if the weight was much of a factor or just me getting too aggressive trying to get the ball unstuck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheatay Posted June 9, 2016 Well played the return of the ball ! Very good idea ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
