Dead Island

[Christo1096-TheIceBreaker]

Disqualified.

ok, its my MOC for Pillage the Village II: The Calm After the Storm entry. This MOC using 16X16 for the base. And this is it...

Story :

"Long time ago, when the red coats was in the crisis, no more weapon, they only use sword and fisherman gun , they life in a small island. They survive in this island, only eats fish and sea shells. But, the skull-coat pirates attack this island, destroy the central home, and killed the red coats. Now, its become a ruins, and no human life there, so it named dead island."

Front

Back

Side

Weapons, treasure box, and some carnivore insects

Yay! the captain!

Brickshelf

likey?

[Ratshot]

I think there's to much suggested fighting going on even though there dead

The rules state that this is the this is the limit on violence.

Here's a link to the rules. It talks about the violence quite clearly.

Don't think that I dislike your MOC, it does look nice

Ratshot

Edited September 29, 2009 by Ratshot

[Christo1096-TheIceBreaker]

I think there's to much suggested fighting going on even though there dead

The rules state that this is the this is the limit on violence.

Here's a link to the rules. It talks about the violence quite clearly.

Don't think that I dislike your MOC, it does look nice

Ratshot

its break the rules?

[Commodore Hornbricker]

It does seem to stretch the rules a little. While it does not imply that violence is still occurring, it is focusing on the violence of the past.

It is a great start, but I'd like to offer you a few suggestions to bring it back into compliance with the rules and take it to the next level. First, spend a little more time and bricks developing your island and, by that, I mean its rock formations, shorelines and vegitation. There are lots of amazinging islands in the land based MOC's index Land Based MOC Index to help give you some ideas.

Here is an example of a great MOC with tons of great island technics. Yours would be smaller but it should give you some good ideas.

Another suggestion is reduce the number of skeletons to 1 or 2 (maybe make one an imperial and one a pirate) and have 2 - 3 live pirates with a little boat and shovels and picks that have come back to the island to dig up their burried treasure. Now that the world is at peace they want to spend some of their hard earned loot.

Try to resist the temptation to have too much going on in your MOC. Focus on making what you do include look really good and prominant. People want to be able to see every detail and sometimes adding too many details makes that difficult. Also try not to be overly repetitive with the details you include. One or two skeltons and animals makes the point of your design which is: here is a remote island that has been long abandonded that saw fighting and death in the past. Maybe the pirates can also burry the dead while they pick up their treasure? That would be another example of a peacetime activity.

Best of luck to you on your entry!

[SlyOwl]

The contest was originally called Pillage the Village II: Times of Peace.

We changed it to Pillage the Village II: The Calm After the Storm. This implies that there was a battle going on at some point, which you can either "refer to" in your MOC, or not, your choice. So this is fine.

My only concern is that without the description, it looks a bit like undead skeletons are having a fight, so some cobwebs/explorers/less "action poses" (I'm basically talking about the two skeletons on top) may make it seem less violent.

I might add that currently it looks a bit like a Castle MOC - the weapons etc. Pirates exploring the site of an ancient battle (presumably within a cave) would be fine, but a cutlass or two more wouldn't go amiss.

A great start! In particular I love the swords bound to the wall

[badboytje88]

I like the idea behind this MOC. I still believe this is a little bit to violent for this competition.

Some things I would change:

1) I'd build the island out of smaller plates instead of bricks and slopes.

2) I'd give the pirates some more piratey assesoires, like hats, vambraces and such.

3) I believe your moc could use some more plants and such. I absolutely love the ants. Maybee you could create a brick built vulture who's eating flesh off off the dead pirates. You could use the white chicken design from the Medivel Marcket set (in black ofcourse) and use the tap piece (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=4599) in red for the neck.

4) I also find it strange that the horse skelleton is still standing upright.

~ Badboytje

[Tom Bricks]

I also agree that this doesn't quite fit the criteria but he general idea is there. I like the idea of the pirates coming back a year later and seeing all the damage but I'm not sure how well this shows it. I think there are somethings that could help like the use of this head instead of the undead one because it adds realism. There should also be some plants to show how the island has overgrown in a year. Also more pirate accessories like hats and guns would make this more of a pirate MOC than a castle one. Some living pirates coming back for whatever reason and some water around the island would also help.

[Adam]

Although this entry doesn't fit the theme of the contest very well, as others have stated, you don't have too much to adjust. Since PTV II takes place after the violence of the original, this could very well be the underwater remains of the pirates and soldiers that kicked the bucket. I suggest removing the land animals and replacing them with sea creatures (fish, sharks, crabs, starfish, jellyfish, etc... the list goes on and on), perhaps supporting a fish on one of the gold swords or a jellyfish atop the flag. Some of the parts used are random, like the black headlight brick in the bottom left of the first photo. And since Dead Island is comprised skeletons and a few birds, it is unlikely that there would be even dried up blood.

There is also a general level of craziness in your MOC: a lot of skeletons, many different colors, and accessories scattered all over the place. My advice is to keep the skeletons, replace the weaponry with tricorners, cutlasses, muskets, etc..., and have one solid color consistent throughout. Some plant life and algae wouldn't go amiss, either. Keep in mind that there are quite a few must-keeps on Dead Island, including the tied up swords and unique skeleton positions. And with that, you've done a great job so far!

[JKooL]

You could make an imperial scouting expedition that comes across this island, and they have a makeshift funeral for their fallen friends of the past. Maybe that would help get you back into the bounds of the rules? Nice job though, I like it!

[MetroiD]

Well, I must say that I actually find that this one really is the calm after the storm. The synopsis in short:

Redcoats came, saw, lived among spiders. Then came big bad pirates with skulls. And swords. Killed all the redcoats. The end. Now it be calm. Very much so!

Christo, the idea of stretching the boundaries is something I personally adore (I guess it shows by the way I utilised the mandatory road plate in my Classic Town Contest entry ) and I aplaud you for that! I'd even encourage you to take it further. Not the stretching thing, just the MOC itself.

The way I see it, there IS no actual violence going on in this MOC, it's just a bunch of dead skeletons surrounded by arthropodes... So if you want to keep it calm, you can - but try to include something going on. Hell, even if it were just a chest which a lucky spider opens up and finds 10000 pieces of eight - so be it, it would STILL provide that extra edge this one needs.

Otherwise, including living minfigs in this one would really make it look very violent - because even the thought of having someone walk through such apocalyptic surroundings is pretty unnerving. I would not recommend it and I don't think that would qualify for the contest.

So, all in all, I do like how you've interpreted the "calm after the storm". And what a storm that must have been... It's a nice idea and obviously it hasn't got you disqualified. I'd just have liked to see some tiny detail that rounds it all off. As to the construction style itself - I love the positioning of skeletons. Great stuff. The amount of animals around I find a tad bit too gaudy and would recommend you lose some of those bats or owls... And I'd have to agree with Adam about the colouring. But the general idea and the presentation with those skeletons is really top-notch

Best of luck in the competition!

P.S.: For some unknown reason, I seem to be obesessed with treasure chests tonight... I wonder if that reference BB pic posted by Bonaparte has anything to do with it...

Edited September 29, 2009 by TheOtters

[Thee Pirate]

I'm kind of torn on this one....

There is no actual violence taking place. As every one's dead, it's all past violence by default.

However, there is no pirate pieces included.

A valiant effort to be sure. and I'll be sure to vote for it if it's modified to include piratey bits like shakos, cutlasses, and (more traditional) Jolly Rogers as opposed to skulls. I probably wouldn't change the layout of anything either.... just add epaulets and what not to the scene.

[Bricknave]

This is an interesting MOC, the amount of detail you put into it is very great, though initially I thought that the skeletons didn't match PTV II very well (Initially though, I understand that this is supposed to represent peace after a battle.)

Here are some things I have to say;

*You may want to make the building a bit more solid-looking by using bigger bricks such as a 1x2x5.

*The ground would look more realistic if you added more sloped bricks to it.

These are some good sloped bricks; A sloped 1x1 brick and a sloped curved 1x3 brick. OR you could take Badboytje88's advice on this, which works really well.

*You should remove the red 1x2 Technic-hole brick from the top of the building.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Bricknave

[zebhra]

nice MOC for a rookie . I like it, maybe I'll vote for you . good job!

[NewRight]

Hey great work on your entry so far man!

Although I feel the red under the skeleton (blood presumably) is a little to dark and well bright. Possibly a trans-red would look nice or even without blood it may look good. After all blood would have dried if the corpses had enough time to rot into skeletons. I noticed you are new to the forum, so let me say hello and if didn't know of the website BrickLink then I would suggest checking it out to pick any parts you may be in need of for future entries or if you should choose to modify this entry of yours a little.

I also feel like there is a little to much black should through the ground. You may have been trying to set a dark atmosphere and I get that, but the white background and the amount you have showing are just to much. Maybe some more brown or tan plates and tiles.

Great work so far and I can't wait to see how this progresses.

[Paul cantu]

I honestly think you should make a new entry. You show excellent building potential but this entry implies a lot of violence. Try to stick to a more peaceful approach.

[Captain Genaro]

To start off, this seems a little violent for the new rules. I would suggest talking to someone incharge of the contest and seeing if they would allow you to change this entry or to deleat it. This MOC is a very creative MOC none the less. I would start by adding an ocean, mabey some wood planks or something to represent a rowboat. To create the rock face in the background I would use more gray slope pieces, this makes it look more realistic. Most islands have some plant life and trees or bushes would add a lot to this. Now on to the positives . I think that using the horse skeleton was original and very creative. I liked the way that you used the circle plate for the captains hat looks very asian. Finally I think that the little camp was a good idea. Overall, a good little MOC that could use some improvement.

[SlyOwl]

To start off, this seems a little violent for the new rules. I would suggest talking to someone incharge of the contest and seeing if they would allow you to change this entry or to deleat it.

As said earlier, this fits The Calm After the Storm theme very well, despite the violent connontations - after all, these are implied in the contest's name! So this MOC is allowed, but Christo may want to - and may - adjust his entry according to what the voters are looking for.

[The Alchemyst]

Errr, I'm not familiar with EB's contest rules, so should I be posting constructive criticism for this MOC? Or is it DQ'd since he's banned?

In advance, thanks.

[-TA-]

[SlyOwl]

Disqualified.

Thanks for pointing that out

The Creative Critiquing in this topic so far will still be counted, though