Niloc

Throwing the wrench! Neat little build. Don't despair Blackhawk, Kawashita will dispash a rescue mission if you wish

Really nice aeralure, thanks! Fitting slogan. I took the banner without poles. I like it like that

---------- Log 2 - The Windblades Objective N.R Marcus has been assigned his first real mission in the Andromeda System: extracting compacted Awesomnium on Lesser Direstan aboard the Katogari AE-5, a light and agile craft able to cut even the sturdiest surfaces… ---------- My stay on Greater Direstan didn’t last long. The councilman known as Mr. Nagashi assigned me a high priority mission on Lesser Direstan, a neighbouring planet en route to Guinevere. He told me the Council was selecting a number of pilots, engineers, scientists and explorers from different branches to lead class-2 missions across the quadrant as a type of trial. “You pass the test, you graduate to class-2. You don’t, you get left behind”, he told me with a smirk on his face. I know he wasn’t jokin’. A friend told me about these sorting methods in Kawashita. They value Honor, but we gotta fight for what they call honor. We gotta tell ‘em we’re worthy of our place. Not sure it’s ethical… Let’s call it logical. In the early morning, as the 2nd fleet was spreading across the coast, I left on a transport carrier to Lesser Direstan, still oblivious of what my class-2 mission was supposed to be. Halfway through I got a transmission telling “all pilots to report immediately in the hangar bay”. I lurched there with a quick pace, hiding my legs’ weakness when people would pass me by. When I finally arrived in the bright and wide hangar, I saw about 50 crafts lying around, ready for departure. I knew what was going on before we even got the mission status by a tall KG fleet officer: “I’ll make it short. What you’ve got here is the Katogari AE-5, a perfect blend of manoeuvrability and strenght, gift of our best engineers. Double sail engines, 50K capacity pod and your two new friends: twin plasma cutters. And baby do they cut.” He moved back and forth in front of us, never looking at us in the eyes: “Our explorers found something very interesting going on on Direstan’s surface. Following canyons where giant rivers used to roar, they scanned very old rocks as sharp as knives. They call them Windblades. They found tons of hidden awesomnium inside these rocks, turned blue after being compacted for who knows how many years. Your mission is simple: drop over the rock, extract the blue stuff, don’t crash in a wall and come back for 1300. There have been reports of alien sightings, so watch out. Good luck pilots.” (...) “What are you doin’ there Ash?.. What the heck is that?” “Well, isn’t it obvious? It’s a snowman!” “We’re not here to play, mate. It’s a class-2!” “There was an awesomnium pocket in there! I couldn’t cut it another way, I swear” I was surprised at how relaxed he seemed, how he could make fun of its job… It wouldn’t kill anyone if he made a mistake… Well… Maybe I was taking this too seriously… Or I guess that deep inside, I found the Windblades so magical I didn’t want people to break ‘em too hard. “Hurry up Marcus, I want us to be the first to cross that finish line! Ahem... Report to Alpha, Alpha do you hear me?: Extraction mission completed. Coming back to you Alpha. No alien encounter, but tons of Awesomnium. May Kawashita bring fortune. ---------- Katogari AE-5 Blueprints (Play features: Landing gears, retractable pod and removable gear) Mining Equipment Blueprints (Thruster pack and plasma drill) First appearance of the Dust Demons technology can be found in mccoyed's Angry Angel archives. ---------- ** LOG 2 CHALLENGE: Can you spy with your eagle eye... the Classic Space reference? ** P.s: Sorry for the long story, pictures-heavy post and the bad pictures (IMO)... I have to buy/set a studio soon!.. Right now I use bad weather daylight + books as a tripod (...) Wish you could see the model in real life.

Hi all, While building, I recently found out that my collection has diminished due to scattered, lost, broken parts and such, as well as my selection getting old, with 90% of "old" basic and semi-specialized bricks (dirty colors, plates, wedges, etc.) VS 10% of "new" bricks (fresh color, brackets, cheese slopes, tiles, etc.). Although I can still manage to find a way to build what I want, I've been facing a wall more and more while creating stuff. I often feel "part limited". Sometimes I don't have enough of a certain part (e.g. 4 light gray tap parts), sometimes it's in a limited palette (e.g. I have 1 pink brick in my entire collection), or I want the part/color and I don't have it at all. It results in sometimes mismatching colors in a MOC when I don't have enough parts of the same color. In some situations, I want to try new techniques but I don't have the parts required. In others I want to make a rock landscape but I don't have enough slopes... My vision can't be brough to life... And is it frustrating! Every so often I want to reboot my entire collection and buy 1000$ worth of bricklink parts! Did you ever see that wall? Do you feel part limited? If so, at what point (e.g. 20 white 1x1 tiles isn't enough for me anymore) and in what situation (e.g. I want to use new SNOT techniques but I don't have any brackets)? What do you do then? Do you enter a rage and punch your MOC? Do you think outside the box and find another solution? Do you empty the Bricklink stores? Do you quit LEGO? (...)

With big white trunks, they do look like mushrooms... But with small white trunks they look very nice! @ Commander Beltar: From the left, the 1st and 3rd (are these bionicle minifig legs!?) ones are the best IMO. I thought I would also share a WIP of alien landscape, would it inspire anyone or just for opinions: They're giant vertical rocks sculpted by ancient rivers and strong wind, as sharp as blades and filled with Awesomnium (one is broken and Aw is poking out).The blue isn't intended to be water, but it does look like it. What do you think?

Thanks again everyone! I wasn't totally happy with it but I'm really thrilled you like it Wow, that anecdote of yours really suprised me... Very, very touching parallel! And thank you for the advice! I really like it when someone tells me how he would improve the project. I'll try my hands at it before reducing the build to brick-ashes. :thumbup:

As soon as I saw this, my first thought was: "Sarlaac pit". Great feeling! That snot-ted pit technique is awesome! And the story is funny and scary at the same time. "wow. They just keep coming..." So many scorpions

This rock/menhir is mesmerizing... White and grey blend so well! I love your vehicle too, it almost looks organic. And is it just me or I see a machine/nature parallel between the vehicle and the rock? They look alike! Was it intended?

Really nice! So many details! Those light towers are my favourite part. (Then the cute drones )

The lava, the logo, the clean building and greebling... Everything is awesomnium! Every detail is taken care of. I can't stop looking at that building... Octan is very lucky to have such a nice training center. (hopefully we can invade visit it one day)

Nice build, big and intimidating! Your patience is also very impressive Your DIMAGLEV technology is very interesting, too. I hope it will be further developed by KG...

Narbilu-sama, the Second branch colonial fleet has arrived on Greater Direstan in one piece: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110461 (I'd like to link the image, but I don't know that skill yet)

Thanks everyone, glad you like it in some different ways! Thank you for noticing! When I write without slowly proof reading I can make a lot of grammar and typing mistakes... I even made up some words! My corrector is in french though, so it doesn't help. I should change that. Well, I tried to fix what I could. If you find any other mistake, I'd be glad to correct them again and learn. Thank you, I couldn't hope for a better compliment!

CHAPTER 1: DAWN OF THE RED SUN On a race to become the most powerful corporation, mysterious KAWASHITA GROUP lastly arrives in the Andromeda system. Setting foot on flourishing planet ORINSHI, the enterprise briskly sends its fleet to the four corners of space, ready to conquer unknown paths filled with undiscutable richness, and that, by all means… ---------- Log 1 - Sunset On the Future With its new cybernetic legs operational, Kawashita pilot N.R Marcus leaves Orinshi with the Second Branch’s colonial fleet. They stop on Greater Direstan as the sytem’s sun sets on the horizon… ---------- The journey was long and hard. I've been stuck for 2 weeks in metal containers. First was Orinshi's medical center... Can you believe it: facing such beautiful surroundings, luxuriant jungles, grassy plains and extraordinary wildlife, but unable to touch 'em. Every morning I jumped out of bed, forgetting that my legs are gone. I hopelessly crash on the floor. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I just couldn't remember. A very weird feeling to experiment. Then, it was the journey to Greater Direstan when the 2nd branch colonial ship picked me up. I tell ya' that was one heck of a bumpy ride. I've heard marvels of our warp drives, but they're far from perfect, they're irregularly stabilized. Bumpy... And I couldn't move out of bed, recovering from my earlier surgery. At least, when I jumped out of bed this morning I landed on my feet. They're a bit clunky and cold, but I'll get used to it. When our ship finally landed on the rocky outpost, I had to get out, to feel fresh air, new air. I staggered to the closest opened deck. My legs were still hurting and wobbling but I forgot it all when I reached the outside deck. The sea was pitch black and the sky burning yellow. Everything was clear, peaceful, strange and lonely. I knew Terra was far, far away... "N.R Marcus, you are required in Bay 05 for mission briefing." I woke up from my trance. Well, beauty doesn't last. How long was I there looking at the horizon? A minute? An hour? I was about to leave for Bay 05 when I received another transmission - coded: "Marcus, I hope you enjoyed your trip! My name is Mr. Nagashi, from the council. Meet me in office 343 as soon as possible. I have a mission for you. High priority" I stood there, surprised... The council? Did he say he was... from the council?! It can't be. Just what could they be doing on a colonial fleet? And they would call me of all things? It's not right... They're up to something. The sunset of Greater Direstan I tried to force the perspective with this build, but it's hard to make the illusion! I had a more detailed background at first and the "Ship deck" extends with details to the back. But taking it all in one shot proved futile (too crowded), so I scrapped everything and went with very simple elements, which ended a bit better ** This build is inspired by Kosmas Santosa's (one of my favourite builders) Senja (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kosmassantosa/16605586408/in/faves-131957354@N02/). I tried to give it a sci-fi twist. I wish my colors were as vibrant, but I don't have artificial light yet... ** More details and behind-the-scene pictures to come!

ID: N.R Marcus Affiliation: Re-applying at Kawashita Group as a pilot. Updated Sigfig: 100 x 100 resized: Kawashita shall rule the galaxy!

My first reaction was: "Woooah". I could really feel the depth of this hole and the life that inhabits it. It was grandeur. And if it's not some incredible SNOT work! It's dizzying... Is it built sideway? (as if, if you tilt your head on the right, the stud goes from bottom to top in one direction?). It's hard to figure out. Where did you start?

Sleek Sentinel Mech! It feels really comfortable to drive. And the small bike in the back is really cool too!

I was thinking about spaceships (the major ones) that would appear in some of my stories (ones I'd like to build have stars on their name like: **1st Leader**) and decided to get them a small background - name, rank, purpose, etc. - on a list. And then, I had an idea to make a KG Fleet Index to put every ship I'll build and more!! I thought If you guys wanted to jump in, we could (re)name existing ships, make up new ships, new branches, modifications and share opinions about everything (including some of my very ugly names ) to build up KG's Fleet. It's about our Corporation after all! We have to shape it! We can build it together! Here's the first version: -------------------------------------------------- -- KAWASHITA GROUP FLEET INDEX -- Hierarchy ----------------------------------------------------- Name ---------------------------------- Appears In… CEO Division - **Kawashita Capital Ship** ------------------------------ “Neo Osamu” The colossal city-scale ship grows as the heart of KG's activities in the Andromeda system. - Development Ship (Illegal Protocols) ----------------- “Sun Mi-Dora” - Administrative Ship ("Military" Program) ------------- “Raijiin” ------------ Mining Division ------------- [Executive Frigate] --------------------------- “Lord of Onix” -------------------- Awesomnium Freighter -------------- "Aian Sai" This Liberty Rhino-Class starship is specialized in heavy hauling of minerals. -------------------- Biomass Transportation Ship ------ “Reach” -------------------- **Refinery Ship** --------------------- “Nostromo IX” ------------ Colonial Division ------------- [Executive Frigate] ------------------------- “New World” ------------------- 1st Class Frigate --------------------- "The Collition" A transport vessel that can carry about everything: explorer supplies, resources, or be used to colonize. ------------------ **1st Class Ship** --------------------- “Guardian” ------------------ 2nd Class Ship ------------------------ “…” --------------------------------------- Marcus Log 1 ------------------------- Sub-2nd Ship ------------------- “Kinkolith” ------------------------------- Marcus Log 1 Background ------------------ 3rd Class Carrier Ship --------------- “…” ------------ Exploration Division ------------------- **1st Class Amphibian Ship** ------ “Infinity” ------------------- 2nd Class Embassy Ship ----------- “…” ------------------- 3rd Class Museum Ship ------------ “Masamune” ----------------------------- Arariel W. (Mantis) Log Pride of the fleet, this vessel countain the rich history of the Kawashita Group and many more treasures. ------------ Technology Division ------------------ Robotic Research Ship ------------- “…” ------------------ Scientific Research Ship ----------- "..." ------------------ Medical Frigate ----------------------- “…” ------------------ **Warp Taxi** -------------------------- “Soringo Shot” Its sole purpose is to carry ships and other vehicles unable to achieve interstellar travel. ------------ Engineering Division - - - Descriptions and updates to come - ------------------------------------------------ By the way, if you ever want to build a ship (mini, micro or macro) out of this list or make a new one, it would be great! We could include it in the Index (and include its appearance). I'll try to keep the index updated somewhere. Anyway, you don't have to agree with this list if you don't want to. It's not official or anything. It's just for some story background; it's fun! At the very end of the game (?), I'll try to put all of the listed ships together to make the KG Fleet whole again! What do you think? May the Fleet Prosper!

I would be glad to do so Mike S-sama, for the sake of KG's operations! Once new data of Corporation moves and domination points awarded is made available (in a few days), I'll see how I can translate it into the interactive map. I'd really like to help and I'm itching to start building, but I made the compromise of joining while knowing I wouldn't be able to build until 3rd week... I do have LDD, but I only use it to plan and can't stand MOCing with it. I'll fall behind at the start for sure, but I'll try everything I can to make it up with my first build (which is already pretty much sketched). I'll make it count! Meanwhile, I'll try to track and analyze the first weeks. I wish luck to all of KG builders! I'm with you in spirit. May Kawashita bring fortune.

The future Torii (simple yet great) are really nice and inspiring to set the tone of Orinshi and Kawashita aesthetic! I think I'll follow your design path. And the story is well told! Nice character.

/// N.K Marcus Transmission from Orinshi /// Public Channel C09E2 /// I knew there were traitors on Orinshi! Ennemies! Sabotaging our communications already! I bet the probing error on Wastyria was not a coincidence... It seems Koro is already taking care of the case, so I'll let it go... Meanwhile, I've changed communication channels to IMGUR. But I've heard rumors of a back channel, a private channel on which we could keep our strategies secret from the other Corps. Anyway, I'll share ideas of PHASE 1 based on previous calculations. You can now analyze STRATEGO's map on page 3 and see the legend. Here's a revised version based on branch executive and CEO opinions: I agree with Wilhelm (the Goliath) that we should move to Guinevere. I still believe that going to Onix through the Outer Rim is a good tactic. I also agree with Turtle-Sama that KG should concentrate on 2 planets at a time, which is more efficient. I thereby suggest (and tell me if it's logical) that our PHASE 1 could be: 1- The taking of Serium (red star) -- Could lead us to Marden (orange star) and the Outer Rim (fast travel) in PHASE 2 2- The taking of Lorstan II (blue star) -- Path to Volifort (Light blue star) in PHASE 2 and way to Guinevere (gold nom-nom) 3- Stop activity in the Hamilton Belt (for now) -- Con: Same path to Marden as Serium / divides our work force -- Pro: Awesomnium source and access to Traig IV (350 Biomass) In lime green and white lines, you can observe other corporations movements (thanks to our spies special agents) (Next update I'll reboot the map. Too many colors now ) I think we could make both "side stories/collaborations" now and then (like the Collition, members having a similar story on a planet, etc.) and "narrative continuity" (like referencing to other characters and stories in your own). Personally, I love telling stories too (isn't that why we're all here) and I plan on using story bits from other members and even cameos if possible. I already have ideas of my own, but my plan is to integrate my stories in a cohesive "whole" of the KG expansion and that everything kinda "fits" together. Long story short, I love CONTINUITY! What do you think, executives and members? What should be our #1 goal? Let's keep an eye on Octan's moves, they're growing fast... Arigato and build on, May Kawashita bring fortune. /// End of transmission ///

/// N.K. Marcus Transmission [from] Orinshi CO9E2 Colony [of] Central Bay /// Corporate friends, unfortunately I heard I'd be stuck on Orinshi for a few weeks. They're transferring me to medical bay next week for surgery and I should get my new robotic legs in 3 or 4 weeks (isn't that great?). Then I should be good to go, wherever I have to go... I enrolled in Andromeda's GATE as a simple pilot, taking this great opportunity to get back into the world. But on Earth I was a military drone programmer for Kawashita (until the... Drone Incident...). Even though I can't do much right now, I thought I could make myself useful and I decided to run some calculations on the colony's available STRATEGO PROGRAM droids. They came in with logical travelling itineraries that could benefit KG: Analyzing the data, Commander Turtle was right on the Outer Ring theory. It seems that if we send a team to the Red line through Marden, we could easily reach and dominate Wastyria (which would reward us with 750 Water) and get closer to the Mithril. But I suggest we shouldn't get too far and concentrate our efforts on the closer Onix by following the Green line. Meanwhile, we could send another team on the Blue line with the objective to reach Guinevere and harvest the precious gold. While Blue line is not the shortest route, it would allow us to dominate Sorn (500 Awesomnium reward) and Lesser Direstan (500 Water reward) on the way. In total - by following the 3 itineraries - we would land on at least 4 Awesomnium sources, 4 Water sources and 3 Biomass sources + gold and copper sources - dominating 7 planets in the process, making it a balanced and maximized exploitation. We would also have access to 13 untouched planets, taking solid control over our sector. The strategy is indeed dangerous: reports show intense predatorial aliens on Onix and Wastyria, and we could make ennemies out of Octan Corp. who could attempt to take over Farmolis and move quickly to Wastyria and beyond. Octan's moves could very well change everything, as STRATEGO doesn't take corporations and trades in account for its calculations. I also suggest that we invest on technologies for Alien communication, as it seems that getting the aliens on our side could stop a lot of undesired problems. Terraforming also seems to be a very useful technology... But it's still very early to make such assumptions. I apologize for this. What do you all think of STRATEGO's prediction? Do you see any bug or illogical calculation? Legend for STRATEGO's starmap: Red line: path to Wastyria (750W) Green line: path to Onix (750B+C) Blue Line: path to Guinevere (750B+G) A: Awesominum / W: Water / B: Biomass / G: Gold (exclusive) / C: Copper (exclusive) Gold star: Rare resources planets - Stratego priority Red circle: Accessible planets from the 3 Lines Purple diamond: Strategic planets to look forward to ** Planets with rewards written over should be dominated to get said rewards, which are around the biggest we can find for each resource** Thank you everyone, May Kawashita bring fortune /// End of Transmission ///

I love board games, and that seems like a great mix of LEGO and a giant strategic board game, which looks pretty awesome! And SPACE, of course! I want to jump in, though I have no idea how it will work out... Building every week or so for the next 6 months seems to suck quite a bit of time, but at the same time it's a nice motivation to build more and try new styles... Before enrolling, I've got a few questions: 1- Let's say you're an engineer. Does it stops you from piloting spaceships and exploring planets (even if you don't get extra credits)? Are you stuck building engineering stuffs for the rest of the game (forgetting buyable technology related to jobs)? 2- Does your company only need at least 1 domination point to account a planet as a jumping point for other planets? Let's say our company gets 1 dom. point on planet A. Can we travel to planet B (next to planet A) right away, or do we need to completely dominate planet A beforehand? 3- Can you "steal" a planet from another company? If Octan dominates one planet, are the other 2 companies still allowed to work on it? Can they take back domination (and if so, will they have the planet's "reward")? 4- If there's no alien activity on a planet, does it mean it's completely dead? No flora or fauna to discover? Or does "alien" here means some kind of species civilized and active at some point? That's about it for now! Now let's SIGN UP! ------------------------------------ ID: N. R. Marcus Faction: KAWASHITA Group Job: Pilot Avatar: Placeholder, right one (not Robotfaceguy please ). I'll make my own when possible! Play well!

I'm pulling my hair out right now as Space Pirates is my favourite cross-theme, this contest sounds like a lot of fun AND I'm working on a Mighty Space Schooner and its hearty crew... but I'm away from my bricks during the contest! Too bad! Well, I still can't wait to see what will come out in the next month

I've read this thread diagonally and find very interesting the discussion about how Lego Cuusoo Ideas is working. (I will always see it as Cuusoo ) I think Ideas is some kind of "Buzz" machine-phenomenon. Most of the projects that made it as sets seemed to have been supported by some kind of popularity "buzz". Sometimes, it's a fan-based buzz, such as Minecraft and Ghostbuster for their license, or even a trend buzz, like the Curiosity Rover (it was a real thing, pretty recent and popular). As there were more and more Licensed ideas that would make it to review, I thought that the buzz could only come from property (IP) fan bases, and that Ideas was "condemned" to be flooded by IPs of all kinds. However, we started to get ideas like Research Institute, Exo-Suit and Birds - original ideas- that would make it to the review and pass, so the "buzz" wasn't all about IPs. So I was thinking: "Where did the buzz come from? How could they make it?" The Research Institute buzz came from the "promoting females in science", I thought. Well, every discussion surrounding this set was about that. And the Exo-Suit buzz could come from the classic space vibe, the AFOL community. It's difficult to say, but the buzz was there: everyone was talking about it everywhere and it got really popular. Now, I don't want to say these sets didn't get popular because they were good models or good ideas, but it seems that their popularity really was supported by some kind of buzz/trend-y thing that spread to many bases/sites/blogs. Then there is "Birds", which I can't explain. How did it get so popular? Was there a buzz? I don't know, but I think this is one case that proves a model can make it because it looks good, and nothing else. I think (like many it seems) that Ideas really is about that: ideas. I mean... it's in the title. Where it gets complicated is that "ideas" and "marketing" are very close in this case. What makes an idea work and another, not work? Advertising it? Sharing it? It's not all about the quality, it's also about the trend. And to get 10,000 supporters in a year, your project has to skyrocket in popularity without ever dropping, it has to be in the middle of a trend. Ben then, again, there is Birds. Was it part of the old Cuusoo? Was it part of a trend? How did it get so popular? When you think about it, it seems scary to start an idea. You may put a lot of effort and thinking into it, but it doesn't mean it will work. There is a lot going against you. I mean, Ideas that gathered 10,000 supporters since the beginning don't really look alike, and original ideas can't tell you how they got popular... In the end, I don't think there's one key to explain everything. And by the way, I love the piano! I want it to pass, it's so small and simple - it would look nice on my desk (is this the secret of success? ) I'm still thinking really hard to figure something out...