BEAVeR

I'm very sorry I blew this up like this. You really don't deserve to be disqualified due to such a silly accident. I don't want to have this entry go lost for such a little detail and due to my shear jealousy. Especially since you already tried to check all the bricks. So I do apologize for my rather rude behaviour, and hope the judges, in their wisdom, treat it accordingly. This should be about having fun with building together. And if you want a real argument: the bricks you used in those colors hardly change something significant to this build and could be easily replaced. (as it was with my build: I had to replace all 1x3 dark tan plates that were all in strange angled positions. A lot of work, but it hardly changed the overall appearance). So let this be over! Don't let a tiny detail ruin such a beautiful build. Well at least something like this will never happen again. But I'm sorry for the mess I made. I hope you (and every one else) forgive me.

For a rushed build, that turned out rather well! I like the base with the (chrome!) lightsabers, the walkway up above, the different crates... but the star is of course the wreckage. The fire is done great, and really give the impression of burning fuels etc. That patch of spilled fuel (the trans clear plates) is a nice touch to that as well. Good choice to make the white by the way: they stand out against the black and dark grey of the wall, floor and other details (nice to include spotlights there!). Furthermore, those engines split up the space nicely. For being wreckage, I've got the feeling there a bit too clean though. No exposed wires or broken pieces of cover. It's a bit like the ship just fell apart in pieces... and then burst out into a great scene of fire! So it's still a great build, although I feel you could have made more of it (but alas for the lack of time!). I would have liked some more story as well, because now i have no clue why that officer is depicted running away so clearly...

1) You're welcome! You see I like typing a lot 2) With the variety in speeders, I was actually referring to all the different speeder design you tried out, as that picture on your Flickr shows. What you've got now is definetly the best... 3) Well, you get a huge amount of words, and still asking questions? With the angles, I especially had windows and doors in mind. Those are very rectangular. Making it more trapezoid, or tilting the windows a little downward, as to ovelook the platform would be nice. The door could be trapzoid as well. The door of the endor bunker is a nice example. 4) O you cheater! Should have chosen the docking bay, then we wouldn't need to battle each other . 5) Hey, I guess we follow the same flow of thought then, or maybe I accidentally copied your sentence and added a capital letter in

Yes, thanks to Nom Carver for the guidance (both here as on the other place) and assistance, and everyone on the SoNE team for again creating an interesting episode. And thanks to the participants, that came in great amounts. It was a pleasure to see SoNE in full action and attention! We got a total of 32 entries, an absolute record in the history of SoNE (compared to 28 for Ep. I, 16 for Ep. II (that's only half of what we have now!) and 20 for Ep. IV). Great to see everybody join in the fun. Also, the quality of the builds seems great. so thanks to everyone for giving me an excellent time! I really enjoyed the tactics, and WIP feedback (well at least from my fellow Imperials). Now that the best may win!

Wow, awesome how much time you invest in these things. It was a great voyage of discovery to look at your model from all the different angles, and then noticing that there are details everywhere. Really, hat off. But you should post more pictures, that everyone can see what kind of genious you are (note: this is not trying to get Bob's good opinion. It's just what I think). So, your welcome, I guess At least you learned that normal LDD cannot be trusted! (had the same issue with the previous episode, causing me to swap a lot of pieces... this time I just used extended, didn't use a lot of rare parts, and was annoyed all the time by how few basic dark tan bricks there are...) And yes, tell me about structural support...

Great to see you finally build something in SoNE. But it doesn't have to be that good Apart from admiring the beautiful build, I spent some time looking at how you succeeded in making two scenes. Great that you can take the main platform out and change it for a dynamic model. I've rarely seen that, and that gives you extra credit from me. Not that the build itself doesn't warrant it. I mean, just look at the rocks and the lava. They are as they should be, with the different colors and the nice relief. All the gaps in the rocks make it more volcanic, and the fact you added in some details there is pretty cool. That base is nice as well, with those genious Malevolence tiles! The real star is the technical part though. Those speeder platforms are exceptionally, and you even added some variety between them! Most impressive. And the main platform is great as well. It comes complete with railing and - because you just couldn't resist, could you? - lovely greebles. You used that space really well. The base of the platfrom is nice to have as well. So is the cute little turret. And the posing of the minifigs is great. I especially like how the hover platforms are tilted. The tower is good. The scattered windows, the gate that can really open... so much things to set it apart. Still, I have the feeling this is the weekest link in your build. The platforms are nice and all, but maybe it's the sheer blockyness that sets me off. Maybe rounding off more, or creating some angles would do it good. Besides, that is a really small gate for being the main back entrance! Though I like this build very much, I still hope I will get more points than you, my competitor! Although I could live with a draw as well...

No, there goes my chance to get your entry disqualified due to a lack of LDD file... At least, LDD Manager can help me... It tells me there are quite some bricks you used that don't exist! For example, the 1x4 dark tan tile, the 1x2 plate with handle in dark grey... the list goes on and on. Somebody violated the rules here, and should be disqualified! Well, it's not explicitly in the rules, but that's only fair (you already use a huge amount of bricks, and then you start using notn-existing bricks. Not very fair to those building in real life!), and I quote (who am I quoting? I think his name is Bob De Quatre or something in the Ep. III thread): So I'm afraid this entry won't count! O wait... Bob is a member of staff nowadays... he can probably get me banned... so let's stay friends, right? Let's say this portion above was just a bad joke to express my jealousy for such a great build? Here, have some cookies And now for the real stuff. Let me really explain how awesome I think this creation is. Let's begin with that ship. That looks great as always, and is clearly inspired by e.g. WWII landing boats. Nice touch. Also great to see some interior detailing with the grills and such. And man, those greebles the way they accentuate the engines is great, although it would have been nice if there had been some kind of thicker area there, purely for structural integrity. It's pretty incredible as well you took care of the underside of the ship (and it's ramp) as well. That's high class. On to the platform. That's some nice Bob-style roundness there! I've got used to this from you, so forgive me that I won't spend much time there. It's worth noting though that the bridge complements the platform really well with the LBG/DBG contrast. It ends in that door with the nice letters. O, and we passed that turret underway that looks awesome... besides the fact it was taken down. Thank you for that . We also passed the black land with the fire crabs and the plants you told us about. Great to see these included, and breack the rocks up nicely. Man those rocks... Spectacular. The different shades of brown, the odd shapes at instances (that arch definetly is my favorite), the little rock islands in the lava... are you sure you never have done landscaping before, because this is pure awesomeness. Now you've got me wanting more of this (though preferably outside a SoNE episode ) !! The lava is very nice as well, although I wonder why you didn't use any dark red. We end our tour with the base. I have no idea where you got the idea, but that hexagonal base is a stroke of genious. No idea why it works, but it makes your entry really stand out. And the blue structural support is nice as well... So it would be a great pitty if it would be disqualified, because clearly you spent a lot of time and love on it! Then why am I reporting? Well, an Imperial victory maybe is a teenie weenie bit more important than you winning. After all, your mission wasn't going to be succesful because that one TIE pilot will reveal your presence! Too bad... *gets zapped by laserbeam*

Really nice build! It's chockful of nice details and techniques.And the forced perspective (my favorite ) works fantastically. Always nice to see some Rebels captured as well! The spacecraft almost warrants its own topic. It's a great design, and definetly Sullustan. I like how armored it looks, with every section tucked in between the heavy armor plates. The shapes on the front part are very tasty, and it's nice that you gave the cockpit a light downward twist. But for such a heavy looking craft, I would expect heavier engines. And for a Rebel ship, I would expect a bit more cannons. Maybe they just stole it like that. Yes, that's how Rebels are... As for the hangar bay: wow. Some great techniques here. I like the SNOT floor (though if it were a bit more regular, it would be better), and those white stripes are really cool. Those, in collaboration with the nice angled doorway really make it an Impirial base, even more than the ensignas do. There are several details as well worth noting. Talking about those ensignas, the technique you used is great, so that no studs are shown. Also the lights, the glow of a ray shield in the hangar door, the cute little mouse droid, the nice red floor... goodness all around. My only tip would be to put a black surface underneat that hole, because the white is pretty destracting right now. A little bit of roof above the hangar door would be nice as well, but that would be all I can think about. So great entry, and you have fought well for the Empire! Let them see what pilots can do!

That's one big entry! My favorite part has to be the surrounding landscape. Those cheese slopes make for some great texture, and those paths running between them break it up nicely. The base itself is nice, very practical and suitable for a detention facility. The tiles on the floor are great, and the railings everywhere are great for safety. All those fences make it look really realistic. And those blue windows give some variety in color. Well made facility! The big open space is nice, and allowed you to take some great shots. But maybe some kind of small transport would fit in well. Also, I'm a bit concerned by the lack of defensive weaponry in the base. No big turrets... And where is the big secure gate... Maybe i'm just blind, but else this creation would have been even better at representing a prison. Although it might be a little bit too realistic for a sci-fi thing. But that might just be me. What doesn't depend on me, is the quality of this big beautiful build. O, and is there some kind of story, or is it just some "blasting some prisoners out" action here?

That engine looks superb! Really believable and very Star Wars-y. The rest of the place definetly feels like Tatooine as well (that droid e.g.), although with some new elements like that walkway. I like that you used both plates and tiles to make it more interesting, although it isn't distributed very evenly. I miss some plates in the middle area as well. It's pretty distracting that there are those holes in your build. It could have worked if you had photographed it with a tannish background anyway. Still, it's very nice to see you put some thought into the ground with the plates, tiles and slopes. Not bad at all, especially when you consider the layout with the junkyard on the one side, and the confined room at the other one. Very reminiscent of TPM...

What a nice entry for the Empire! * gets to the third picture * Darn it! Well, nice entry for the Rebellion then. Because it is pretty nice. Especially the inside of the base looks great. you get that familiar Star Destroyer feel, but at the same time it is something new. Those stairs are superb, the decorations in the floor are a nice touch and somehow, I find those little monitors just adorable... Of course the outside isn't bad as well...those rocks are nice, but I really like the strong, rigid look of everything. Almost dwarvish. The simple, angular, functional architecture. Quite new for me in the SW universe, but very welcome as well! Instead of an insigna above the window (why is there no ray shield there in the first place?), I think some kind of ledge in the same fashion as the other protrusions would look better. That would give better cover for the Rebels as well, because they look really exposed on the roof with that thin communication equipment. It's just a small detail, but some kind of grapling hook would've looked better than that plain stud of the rope on the roof... But I still do wish this was an entry for the Empire...

Sullust. At least it isn’t as cold as Hoth. But the volcanic smoke has made a lot of patrolling missions a whole lot more difficult. Take KQ-351, now restoring in the sick bay after almost suffocating due to a minor failure in his ventilation system. Am I glad this base isn’t built near to any major streams of lava. That would be excellent for defence, but highly impractical… On the other side, this base doesn’t seem to be built to keep anyone out in the first place. Sure, the solid rock walls, the few but strong gates and the narrow entrances are good to keep people inside, but there isn’t much protection from attackers. [soNE Ep. IV] Eye on the skies by Bert.VR, on Flickr It was built when just the thought of attacking the Empire would have made everybody laugh. It was built when there was no real Rebellion trying to crack into it. When everything was peaceful… The main services got a place on the roof. Good for communications. Bad for protection. Cannons? Nowhere to see… So it’s up to us to defend the base. The pilots will have to save the day. The AT-AT pilots on the ground, the TIE pilots in the air. We’ll keep the forces of the Rebellion off, while our friends on the inside will stop the infiltrators. My rank got me this position at the main gate. Destroy everything that tries to get in, they said, until the backup arrives. So my eyes are scanning the air, in the hope of seeing reinforcements, in the expectation of seeing a horde of Rebel fighters. [soNE Ep. IV] Ground reinforcements by Bert.VR, on Flickr At least I’m not alone to stop that filth of the galaxy. Every pilot has been summoned. So I’m not the only one to stand up against this brutal Rebel attack. It will be a lonely battle though. In this atmosphere communication is hard, and in fear of abuse by the Rebel infiltrators, all communication has been abandoned after the distress call to our fleet. Look, there’s one of my colleagues in his TIE flying by, from the other side of the cliff where the hangar bay is. He’s heading for… the sky? Why isn’t he on his post in the first place? It could be a reconnaissance mission, but why? We have our detection equipment right here. We already know the place. And why doesn’t a take our usual routes? Why is he flying like a wampa anyway? Whoever it is, I… It might be a Rebel… And I pull the trigger. My instinct is a good shooter. Smoke coming from the crucial wing section, the TIE goes down. It disappears behind the rocks, where it will most certainly perish in the lava. [soNE Ep. IV] Every shot makes two victims by Bert.VR, on Flickr It might have been a friend… No… the thought petrifies me. But how? How could it have been a friend? That’s impossible. Why would he abandon his post? Why would he fly like that… No, it can not… may not… have been a friend. Surely, I have done what was best. There might be hundreds of explanations. A reconnaissance mission because our equipment failed, an emergency evacuation, some kind of special mission… or just a foolish act of heroism by a rookie. Is there another explanation? Couldn’t ir really have been a Rebel. Who somehow got past all security. But how? Who somehow managed to get away with a TIE fighter. Impossible, isn’t it? Aren’t all TIE fighters in the air? Except… KQ-351’s. Hope. Despair. I’m a hero I’m a murderer . I’ll never know. The wreckage will never be found. People will go missing today. Fighters will perish today. Who knows what chaos the upcoming battle brings. And what chaos might follow. I’ll never know if I did the right thing. Nobody’ll ever know. Nobody even saw it happen. Nobody goes through the same hell as I. No one to talk to. I’m alone with a killer. [soNE Ep. IV] What have I done? by Bert.VR, on Flickr Only now I see what this war is taking. I’ve killed before, but only now I realize I remember every single deadly shot I fired. Twelve. I already took the life of twelve people. People just like me. Friend or foe, I killed twelve people. I’ve killed myself twelve times. What’s left of me? I’m only a human. And humans are not made to kill. Whether I just shot down a Rebel or an Imperial, I’m still a murderer. And I can’t undo that. That’s what this war has turned me into. Not into a hero. Into a murderer. There are no heroes. Not in battle. I won’t claim a medal for what I’ve done. All I can do, is go on. Go on and end this war. I need to do the best I can to stop this war. Even if I’ll have to kill again. This war has to be stopped. And if battle is what it takes, so be it. I hope that one day, this war ends with throwing away weapons. That not the Rebellion, not the Empire wins, but peace. But that’s a thing for heroes. I’m just a simple pilot. All I can do is choose the lesser evil. Either way, I’ll have to kill again. I’ll have to kill others. I’ll have to kill myself again. But that’s the only way. Now that I’ve took this road, I can’t go back. I can only go on to be the victim of my own shots. _________________ OoC: LDD file here One more picture of the gate available on my Flickr Not everything is connected, bacause that's (nearly) impossible in LDD. Those Technic axles in the rock pillars aren't connected to each other, but in real life a (LEGO) grey rubber band should do the trick. Trust me, I tried it out. Same goes for the smallest tires in the smoke, that just hang on the bar. Also, I'm not entirely sure about the rigidity of the rock wall. I did add in some Technic support, but in LDD it's really hard to work with all those angled surfaces. Also, I used a couple of 2x2 dark tan plates, that never appeared in a Lego set, but are available on bricklink. I hope these aren't any major issues, and that you still can enjoy the build.

Wow, that model of yours turned intosomething really great! This should actually be judged as three seperate high-quality builds! Let's go from top to bottom. The micro part on the top is very nice to begin with. Great posing of the vehicles, well executed ground ( I never get the the angles alligned nicely, but you succed brilliantly, and added some more layers as well). Too bad the vehicles weren't custom models ( but we'll se one soon...), but what a great appetizer! Then the main dish: the scene. I like the verticalness of it, supported by the great greebles. Also, nice to see how it flows into black in the hangar bay, matching the TIE and pilot colors. Also, great diversity. I like watching at all the different scenes, the ariety of details. Like the guns, the droid, the crane, the lava fall (although a bit too skinny for such a viscous flow), the bio-section (although the change of decor is rather abrupt here, with a bunch of leaves popping up at once. Maybe start with more sober colors like olive or tan and build up a gradient...)... Apart from that, I like the functionality with all the ladders, gateways, platforms (that improved greatly ;-) ). Just work a bit more on e lave, getting rid of the sharo edges... and then you'd finish up with a really nice MOC! O wait, it isn't over? Time for dessert, everybody's favorite. That ship you've got there is amazing. It really seems to be your kind of thing. All the vents, angled sections, greebles at the underside. A master shipbuilder, so it seems! Nothing to say here, because een the photograpy is great ( genrally true for the whole model!)... well, besides that you could have edited the stings out maybe... I'm really delighted to see this model in its present state. It's amazing in so many aspect, that it almost hurts criticizing it! Keep it up! O wait, you're doing so, with your great freebuilds... nice.

This is probably as good as a small build can get! Well done. I like the very confined feeling so appropriate for the underground base. The stumpy rocks are good as well, and that lava tops it all. O, and those erling bricks make for a really nice ray shielded door. Furthermore, the photography is really good (except in the fourth picture with those hard shadows, but the first picture makes everything good). My suggestions would be to not let the antistuds exposed on the ceiling. Replacing them with tiles, wires, vents, lights and maybe some rocks would bring it too live more. Also, I have the feeling the consoles and such could be... more. Difficult to explain. But you don't need very much comments anyway with such a nice scene!

What?! There are tunnels? How can we not hae seen that? Well, let's say that your skills would be really, really amazing... I can't judge about that, but I can see that your building skills are already worth a second look at. I'm talking especially about the not-very-obvious angled platform, that complements well with the rocks and the lava (again, not entirely straight). Everything fits together so well! And then the linifigs and the beacon get all the attention. Well played! The rocks do seem a tad bit artificial, but that might just be me. Great that you added that rock in the corner of the lava BTW. The not too much extravagant details approach works, making it a believable covert platform. Maybe continuing the rock on another side, so that it makes a corner, would help enforce the secret feeling.

Even for a simple build, you make it look good. The offset floor tiles are indeed nice, and so are the slanted computer controls. Even the ceiling looks okay! And as for me, I just love the cutaway part. Also nice to see the subtoe contrast between dark grey and DBG. A pitty you didn't include some kind of door in one of the side walls, or some consoles to the center of the room. If executed correctly, that would fill it more without cluttering it. Nice that you thought of exterior decoration as well. I would have liked some more though, rocks for instance, because now it looks a bit odd. So yes, this is a creation with a lot of potential. Pitty you didn't have enough time to turn it in something truely amazing. I'm eagerly awaiting your builds that received some mire time!

"Lego, the outlet for all your creative musings... and your dark thoughts!" Well, there's quite a lot to like at least, if you don't like the subject ( read: shamlessly staged anti-Empirial propoganda). The ground has some really nice, but elegant, texture. And there are some nice details, like the different outlets on top of the... rooms. I'm not overly fond of the base though. Too thick for my taste (does it have a function?), distracting from the rest of the build. Same goes for the overhanging bit. I feel like it's a nice addition, but the fact that it's protruding that much is not very pleasing... Luckily, the boulders, spotlights and other details make up for that. To prove that I like your bit, let me propose a slightly different working principle, because you awakened the dark demon within me! How about at first, it isn't clear who of the two will be... heated. With the thought that they can still save themse.ves, or the other, they might just as well give in, without some energy wasted! If not, the same results would come... Darn, this really is an inspirational build!

Wow! Never guessed Nom Carver actually is a secret sith apprentice! If that isn't an argument to let the Empire win in a tie! Also, that explains his universl knowledge. So let me ask him: if right here I'm on Central European Time (with daylight saving), that means I can enter untill 12 a.m. (noon) local time, right? Maybe I'll still have time to slap some mini creation together...

Ah, OK, Nom Carver just confirmed it in the Ep IV thread (and here).Well, that makes things a whole lot better! Sorry if I confused everybody! About the scoring system I tried to explain. I just saw that it isn't really good for people who begin, because they will earn infinite points the first time... so how about a system where the XP you get =[ (XP earned in round)² / (XP earned in round + XP already on your bill) ] So if someone has already 50 XP and gains 15, he actually gets 15²/(15+50) = 3.46 XP. Someone with only 10 XP so far will get 15²/(15+10) = 9 XP. Someone that is new earns 15 XP. I agree with TWP to add some minimum score in, so that no one ever gets less than e.g. 2 XP. That would give a formula: [(XPround²)/(XPround + XPtotal)] + XPminimum

Glad to see a lot of people are willing to help here I don't want to push you however... I had a little thought about the XP-system. The main reason we wanted to change things, was because it was too easy to get really high, and there were huge discrepancies in the lists.The current solution, of only rewarding XP to the victors, adresses the first problem, but only aggravates the second! It will nearly impossible for those that always end up second to climb the ranks... And of course we want our XP to be an accurate representation of what everyone has achieved. So what I propose, is a dynamical XP rewarding. The more XP you already have, the less you get. For example, if someone already has 50 XP, and gains a score of 15 in a certain episode, he'd get (15/50)*10 = 3 XP points, where as some one with 15 XP to start with that earns a score of 15 gains (15/15)*10 = 10 XP points. I used a scaling factor of 10 here to make calculating easy (all of this was done without a calculator ), but it could be adjusted to give more desirable results. I hope things don't get to complicated, but do wish to improve the system!

With only two days left, we have 8 builds. Is SoNE really going that bad? I'll see if I can finish my entry in a hurry, but 9 still isn't much. I hope we get a lot of last-minute entries, but people really shouldn't flirt with the deadline like that! Still, a late entry is better than no entry at all. I hope everything will be worth the wait! BTW: the rules state that XP will only be gained by the victors in each sector. Won't this make it nearly impossible for some (with e.g. a really limited supply of bricks) to gain XP?

So now we've seen the maquette, where's the LEGO model? Ow, this is the LEGO model? Amazing! Really, congratulations on this marvelous building. The huge variation and the consistency in one build. I can't believe how you made all the little interior decorations (like the UCS Imperial Shuttle ) and such gems like the Porsche and the branch-like decorations. The plants, the curved wall... everything is just amazing. The front does look a wee dull though, and things like lights, a doormat and -bell would brighten up the place a bit. Still, one of the greatest houses I've seen here to date. I pitty you computer though. The house does look like a computermelter .

Wow, great to have you on our side! There's a lot of good stuff going on in this build. The fighter/suicide ride looks great to begin with. Yes, the colors are a bit weird, but the design is nice with the angled wing, the greebles and especially the variety in guns. Great to see you didn't take the easy way and made all your guns different, and paid a lot of attention to detail. I like the hoses for the pilot to plug into and the skis for landing. That all makes sense on Hoth (or any other planet that happens to have a polar area and that is in Empirial hands... ). The small piece of hangar bay is decent as well. Nothing revolutionary going on with the ice (have a look at Legonardo's rockwork, and you'll know what I mean), but the base looks good because of the nice details (those on the ceiling are especially nice) and the practical things laying around. I would say: well done! The only thing that's a bit distracting are the bare plates on the ceiling. those big shapes don't go well with what you did at the base, and it's a pitty for such a nice build. I'm gladly awaiting more ships, bases and who knows what else from you! No pressure though

Well, if the problem is a lack of staff, I would be happy to volunteer to keep this initiative going. As an engineering student, I haven't got more time then any of you, but I'm willing to do what I can. Contact me if you need me.

Of course I don't expect you to summon sets or so, I was referring to more immaterial rewards, like I just pointed out in the feedback thread. Another question: do there have to be minifigs in the scene, or can everything be e.g. miniland scale? Or are things like micro-building only allowed for forced-perspective backgrounds and such? Just so that I can better see where my build is going...