BEAVeR

I don't know if any one else has noticed this, but yesterday SoNE started its third year of existence! Hurray! I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has made this possible: the founders, the people I've had the pleasure to organize it with, the people I've had the pleasure of building with... Thanks to everyone for three years of fun that have helped me to grow a lot as a builder and as a person! I hope we can keep this community as strong, friendly and lively as ever, so keep building, giving feedback, and being awesome! To celebrate the occasion. why don't we all answer the following question: What has been your favorite SoNE moment/anecdote... so far? I know it's a hard question. That's why I take some time before I answer myself

The rule of the clue part having to appear in the first picture is to make sure you don't post tens of pictures with the clue part visible in only one: we want to give everyone a fair chance at guessing what the clue part is. MKJoshA corectly explained that the most creative use of the part will be the one the points for creativity are based on.

I quite like those Brickheadz, but can't deny Seb Toutouille's work is better. Now that I mention it, LEGO's Brickheadz and Seb's Blockheads have an uncanny similarity... Link to his photostream, and they're even on Ideas... I think these kind of builds have the potential to go to other themes as well. If you look at how the mighty micro's are derived from Star Wars' microfighters, which in turn premiered as event exclusives, something similar might happen here.

Once again, tell me exactly what happened on the day of the battle After the final briefing I went straight towards my fighter where our Chief Technician was just doing the final checks of my R2. During the battle, everything went as usual until I came close to mister Skywalker and my droid suddenly began making strange noises, like Bluuuh Bluuuh instead of Beep Beep, and I lost control of my fighter and it began to do Blast Blast towards mister Skywalker, but he managed to Zjoooof and Blast Blast and Bang and... Get hold of yourself, trooper! Hm, sorry. So anyway, mister Skywalker managed to blast my droid. As the battle was coming to a close, we went straight back for the hangar to consult our Chief Technician as to what went wrong. But when she saw us coming, she pulled her blaster out and fired at mister Skywalker! It was like Blaaam - sorry. So, we managed to neutralise her just in time, and that's all I know. Thank you trooper, we know enough. Every one, question those who knew said technician, check everything. I don't care if you end up on the other end of the galaxy, as long as we can stop these attempts! - Ah, Princess, everything is in place to begin our investigation. Excellent, commander. Meanwhile, I've decided to pay a visit to Prince Xizor. His help was invaluable to obtain the supercomputer, so I have no doubt he will be able to help us in this matter. So everything we found up to this point has led us here. But there's nothing to be seen! O wait, here this looks out of place... No no, that's just another one of those moisture thingies. But here... look, footprints! If I recall my days in the Imperial scouts, these can only come from one species... All footprints really look the same to me. Are you really sure this here isn't... Finding clues: The objective of this episode is to find the one responsible for the attack on Luke. To find this person your character first has to gather clues as to who this person is, follow leads, make enquiries... But what do these clues look like? Well, every clue is in fact a certain brick the villain lost on his trip across the galaxy in order to set up layer after layer of deception. In fact, he lost so many bricks that if you manage to find all of the clue bricks and put them together in the right way, they form an unmistakable hint as to who the villain is! A part of these clue bricks has already been found by both factions. However, certain parts are only known to the Rebels, and the remaining clue bricks are only known to the Empire. Your second goal therefore, is to find out what other clues the opponent found... The ultimate goal is to approximate the secret model I made as good as possible. This means that you have to: find out what the model depicts (it's a logical choice if you know your EU a bit and have some common sense) find out what parts the model consists of (see next bullet) put the pieces together to make the model you think I made In the end, the team that approximated the model best will get 5 bonus points added to the faction total, which could turn everything around! The model consists of a total of 220 pieces, with 65 unique part/color combinations of which 62 pieces are unique (if the color wouldn't count). Each brick gets a separate ID so that we can discuss them without revealing what part it is. 42 of these pieces are public for everyone, their ID's start with the letter P 10 of these pieces are only known to the Rebellion, their ID's start with the letter R 10 of these pieces are only known to the Empire, their ID's start with the letter E I created the model in LDD, so it is perfectly buildable with the available parts there. However, not every connection is supported by LDD, so you might have to place some floating parts in the program if you build it there. In reality some studs are only half inserted. The model should be perfectly buildable in real life. Furthermore, I made sure to use mostly parts that are still in production and are therefore readily available. A list of all the parts can be found in a Google spreadsheet template available here. For every part, it contains the ID, the color, the amount of that part used in the secret model and possibly a comment. The public parts are fully identified, for the parts you have to figure out, you can fill in the cells. An LDD file containing all of the public parts can be found here. You can use this to create a template to make recreating the model easier. Instructions on how to do that can be found in the spoiler below. The list of the parts that are exclusive to each faction, can be found in the first post of their secure comm channels. So if you don't have access yet to those channels, be sure to let that know by posting a reply in this thread! In principle, each build should contain one of the secret parts as a seed element. You have to use at least two instances of the part in your build, at least one of which has to be clearly visible in the first picture of your entry! However, it is your goal to keep this part a secret from the opposing faction. Therefore, it is your job to incorporate the part as naturally as possible into your scene, use other weird parts to distract attention... Note that for this episode, builds will also be judged on the originality of the use of the clue part: 25% of the XP you get depends on this factor. For example, if your secret clue part would be minifig legs, and you'd simply use it as the legs of a minifig, the opposing faction will have a hard time guessing that that part was the clue part, but you won't get any points for creative use of the part! It is always possible to include multiple different clue parts in your entry, but know that only one will be count as having featured in your build. Which one, depends on the title of your entry (see the "The Rules" section). Multiple players can build with the same clue part. However, every secret clue part that doesn't get featured in a build, will be made public at the end of the episode, so it is advisable not to leave a part without a builder. Also, it is possible to post an entry without a clue part (if you don't own any of the listed parts and don't want to build digitally), but then you won't get points for the creative use of the part, and loose 25% of the XP the build could get. We don't expect everyone to have the necessary part in the correct color. Therefore, we permit photo editing to change the color of that part (and only that part!) to the required color. If your picture editing skills aren't sufficient, you can always ask someone else to do it for you. After the deadline for the builds, you get a week (7 days) to put together your best guess at the clue model. Before the end of that period, one person from each faction should send me clear pictures (and if possible, a digital file) of the model their faction thinks is the secret model so that we can judge its accuracy. So to recap, you have to build a scene of your character investigating who is behind the attack on Luke. Your build has to feature at least two instances of one of the secret clue parts of your faction (in the correct color or another one, which gets digitally corrected in the picture) incorporated in your scene in a creative way that doesn't seem obvious to the opponent. Your job as a team is to guess what secret clue parts the opposing faction used, and to put them together to recreate the model you think I made with those parts, which will lead you to the villain. The Prizes: Your faction will receive points based on three factors:These three factors are added to each other, and the faction with the higher total is the winner. Points: The average number of points per builder. Builders: One point for each builder Secret model: 5 points for the faction that approximated the secret model I made the closest, and none for the other faction. All the players on the winning faction will receive this tag to commemorate their victory. You can only have one of these tags or one of the Community Build tags at a time, but a log will be kept of all the tags you've earned in your profile in the Player Index. The winning team will get to choose a planet to take control of. The winning team must pick a planet that is currently controlled by the oposite team. The player who receives the most total individual points, regardless of team, is guaranteed a spot among the next set of the blog's Showcased MOCs. (This member must still be able to provide a picture big enough and of suitable quality to be used in the Showcased banner.) You will receive XP equal to the number of points you are awarded from the judges. The Rules: All rules in the Core Rules topic apply unless otherwise stated in this explanation or the rules above. The Empire's goal and the Alliance's goal is to depict their character searching for clues as to who is targeting Luke Skywalker. Ideally, each entry should contain a clue part incorporated into the build. The goal of each faction is to determine which secret clue parts the other faction is using and to build a model with all of the known pieces (and guesses for the secret pieces of the opposing factions) which indicates who the villain is. There are no restrictions on the size/form/content of the builds, as long as they follow the above described goals. There is no restriction on which planets you can build in this episode. The Episode will run from July 16th to September 4th. As long as it is still September 4th somewhere in the world, you can still enter. The deadline for the submission of the faction's guess at the clue model (one guess per team, to be sent by PM to me) is as soon as September 11th has passed in every part of the world. Entries posted after the deadline will be disqualified from the episode and will not be eligible to receive points or XP. Entries will be judged according to the Core Rules, but keep in mind that 25% of the XP depends on the creativity with which the clue part was employed: Your build will be scored in two stages, to make it easier on the judges by lessening the number of builds that must be scored in greater detail: In the first stage, the judges will award a score from 1-10, with a '1' being "Minifig on a Plate", a '5' being "Your Average MOC" and a '10' being "Flawless Concept and Execution". In the second stage, the top five builds of each faction (so ten in total) from the first stage will be scored based on basic predetermined criteria: up to 10 points for the concept and appropriateness to the objective, up to 25 points for your execution of the build, and up to 5 points for your presentation of the entry. For builders who make it to the second stage, their second stage total is added to their first stage points, and that total is divided by two and a half. You can earn a maximum of 20 points in each episode. The amount of points you earn is also the amount of XP your character earns. This episode/contest is open to all players of Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka, even if they joined EB or signed up for the game after the episode has begun, with the exception of the Star Wars staff, who are not eligible to win XP or prizes; the EB admins and moderators, who are not eligible to win prizes but may earn XP; and the episode host, who is not eligible to win prizes but may earn XP. Neither can they partake in discussions about what the clue parts of the other faction would be or about what the hidden model could look like! All entries must be new creations, not posted anywhere else prior to being entered in the episode. You may be asked by a staff member to change your entry if it is too similar to an earlier creation. All entries must be built from real LEGO or with Lego Digital Designer. No clone brands, no third-party custom parts. All entries must be posted as a new topic in the Watto's Junkyard subforum, the title prefixed by, "[soNE Ep. XII]" and the ID of the used clue part (For example, "[soNE Ep. XII] R03 - Game of Clues".) So you can have multiple different clue parts in your build, but only the one you feature in the title of your entry counts as having been incorporated in a build. Post pictures no larger than 1000x720, as specified in the EB Member Guidelines. You may do a 'full-blown photo edit' with all the text, effects, background compositing, support erasing, and other effects on one picture. All your other pictures may have no editing other than color adjustment or background removal for a solid-color background. For obvious reasons, any photo editing that changes the shape, functionality, or color (not tint or adjustment, but actual color) of a LEGO piece is prohibited, except for the clue part, as stated earlier. All entries are considered WIPs (Works In Progress) until the deadline passes. Until the deadline has passed, you are allowed to change and improve your MOC.

10183 - Hobby Train (A model) – Factory 2007 - Swiss crocodile Download 10183 - Hobby Train - 1.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 10183 - Hobby Train (B model) – Factory 2007 - Caboose Download 10183 - Hobby Train - 2.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 10183 - Hobby Train (C model) – Factory 2007 - Flatcar with truck Download 10183 - Hobby Train - 3.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 10183 - Hobby Train (D model) – Factory 2007 - Diesel-electric American locomotive Download 10183 - Hobby Train - 4.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 10183 - Hobby Train (E model) – Factory 2007 - Modern urban electric locomotive Download 10183 - Hobby Train - 5.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None General remark: apart from the first model, I didn't have official instructions, since these aren't available any more since a couple of years. I did however, work with the official .lxf files for as far as they still are compatible (some techniques are now considered illegal by LDD). In combination with that, I used generated instructions available on brickshelf. They aren't always logical or correct, but close enough, and better than the ones generated by LDD, so the steps in my models follow these instructions closely. __________________ There are 30 models to this set, but I figured it would be less boring to me and easier to track for other users, if I build and post them in batches of five. I don't know if I will manage to do all of the models (I'm still having tons of fun!), but I'm certainly planning to feed my love for trains by recreating the models of this unique gem of a set.

I'm seeing a lot of interesting models here. In fact, we have an index here on Eurobricks with models from TT's games recreated in LDD. Sadly, this topic hasn't been updated in a long time and doesn't contain a lot of models. But I suggest you add all of the models you create here to that topic so that they can be easily found. You can find the topic here. As for extracting the models from the gme, a quick search reveals that there might be a way to do it: see this topic. However, I'm quite sure that you won't get anything LDD-friendly. First of all, I think the models are simply meshes instead of being built out of virtual bricks. Secondly, as everything in these games is about efficiency, they don t contain an internal structure. So I'm afraid it will be all work by hand...

If I understand right, you want to make creations that show up in LDD itself just like the already available ones? I found a method here, although I haven't tested it myself yet I'm afraid that it isn't possible without a bit of hacking, which goes against the rules of this website. However, generally there is little use to have decoration in LDD itself, as you will rarely be presenting something straight out of the program: you'll always be rendering it. Bluerender also supports custom decorations, as illlustrated by this article.

4508 -Titan XP (A model) – Creator / Inventor 2004 - Small robot Download 4508_a.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 4508 -Titan XP (B model) – Creator / Inventor 2004 - Dogbot Download 4508_b.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 4508 -Titan XP (C model) – Creator / Inventor 2004 - Biped Download 4508_c.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 4508 -Titan XP (D model) – Creator / Inventor 2004 - Titan XP Download 4508_d.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None General remark: the colors where hard to distinguish in the instruction manual, especially between chrome silver and light bluish grey. I checked with reference photo's, and made sure each model didn't use more of the pieces than there are in the set, but I can't guarantee everything is exactly as it should be with regard to colors! _____________________ There are those sets you regret not having. Just like everyone, I regret not having the UCS Falcon or the Emerald Night of course, but I don't know if many people remember this set I've craved for ever since it came out. The side models are all great and all, and you can do fun things with them as you can see in the renders. But the Titan himself is just stunning in every way to me. It's very posable, but just in it's static form it already looks so cool! So yeah, I had a blast finally building these models, even though it's only digital. And the fun thing about this is that I get to practice my render skills as well: I got a little experimental with the lights this time, and I think it gives this nice, cold look to the robots.

I downloaded your fix, uploaded it to my brickshelf and updated my post. Thanks a lot for fixing it, legolijntje, because I fiddled quite a bit with it! And yes, the knots where "fun" to do. But it was very good practice, and looks great in the final render as well .

4090 - Motion Madness (B model) – Creator / Inventor 2003 - Jumper Download 4090_b.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: Strange twist in the rubber bands I couldn't get out. EDIT: Thanks legolijntje for fixing this! 4090 - Motion Madness (C model) – Creator / Inventor 2003 - Horse Download 4090_c.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: The rope doesn't have the correct length. The knots are accurate, though. 4090 - Motion Madness (D model) – Creator / Inventor 2003 - Bird Download 4090_d.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 4090 - Motion Madness (E model) – Creator / Inventor 2003 - Squid Download 4090_e.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None 4090 - Motion Madness (F model) – Creator / Inventor 2003 - Face Download 4090_f.mpd (OMR compliant), built with LDCad 1.5 Known errors: None I had actually already finished these quite a while ago, not long after I posted the A model, as training with LDCad, learning to do custom parts (the rubber bands were okay, but the rope was really cumbersome because I wanted to approximate the model in the instructions so bad, including the knots they made ). However, the importer I was using to import the models in Blender for rendering couldn't handle the .mpd files with custom parts. But a couple of days ago, a new importer came out, that does have the capabilities of dealing with these kind of models. I used these models to test it out, so that's a double win .

I tend to write very long comments with lots of suggestions for improvement. But not for this MOC. It's just so amazing, I can't fault a single brick in it. I really can't find the words to describe this beauty, so awesome, awesome job, mortesv I love reading your description of the challenge of every nook and cranny of the build, and I have no doubt you have a lot more fun things to tell. It shows how much of a labor of love this has been, translating every last detail of the studio model to your replica, and not making any compromises about it, going for quite complicated techniques to realize a single detail. The comparison picture shows it very clearly, but you can also feel it in how complete and coherent the ship feels. Every area has the same level of detail, even the seemingly plain ones you textured with tiles in a very clever way, which gives the ship an unparalleled level of realism. There are so many areas with a distinct personality, but by having the same level of detail everywhere, you made sure it all comes together really nicely in the end, getting to the heart of the original design. Another factor in this are the fun parts you have in there that make it worthwhile discovering every area: those grey buckets, the air tanks... again, just like in the original: a model to respect, but one that can make you laugh as well. A model with a heart, because the designers of the studio model put their heart in it, and because you put your heart in it. Wait, doesn't that make your model better than the original ? This is where I normally write about suggestions, but again, none to be had here: who am I to make remarks to someone who has looked at the model over and over and over again? O, all right then, just one I'm wondering if there is no better way to recreate the stabilizing vanes. All of those antistuds stand out against a model that is so finished overall. Something SNOTted might be too thick. But how about Technic panels and Bionicle/Hero Factory pieces (60935 for instance). It might be a bit dangerous to have such a different kind of part in a model that is quite consistent, but you can always try. And of course, there is one thing that is "wrong" with this model... it is too big! Otherwise, my fleet of micro ships would be perfectly in scale But I see you manage very well yourself with the micro ships. So once again: awesome creation, mortesv. This really is one of the ages: now we only need to change the blog's banner. In the meantime, we'll have to do with this:

Awesome work, BrickRemix! I've been working with Blender for a while now in order to improve my renders (but I find myself constantly programming to create a smoother workflow, resulting in a lather low output of me ), so you can trust me if I say this small movie is amazing. The renders look close to perfect, with the nice addition of the LEGO logo, tasteful gaps between the bricks, finely tuned transparent materials and high quality geometry (often I see renders that look amazing but have low-res bricks, spoiling it when you look up close). Even without taking the animation into account, you can see how much work went into this, so hat off to you! The one thing that slightly bugs me, is the animation. Don't get me wrong, in no way could I do better, but there's something that looks slightly off and gives it that digital look. Animation is a tricky thing, and it's hard to pinpoint what's awry. In this case, I think it would help if you gave the pieces more weight. This would mean not slowing them down too much when they near the model, but letting them actually hit it, with big parts possibly making the model rock a bit back and forth. I think giving more weight to everything, including the droid, is key. Going for the stop-motion style might also resolve the issue (in that case, don't forget to turn off the motion blur, as that can't occur in stop-motion shots!), so I'm curious for your future work. That being said, I'm also really curious about your workflow. What do you use to get the LEGO bricks into Blender? Do you model the bricks or import them in some way (I've been working on the LDRImporter myself, so if you would happen to be using that, I'd appreciate your feedback as well)? Do you do anything special with the materials except for a mix of a diffuse and a glossy material (possibly with a fresnel node?)? And how do you achieve the LEGO logo? Normal maps? Have you been thinking about how to add the mold mark? Sorry for the slew of questions, but watching your amazing results just makes me so curious and enthusiastic! So keep building, animating and torturing your graphics card, because the results are worth multiple viewings!

Glad to hear you're interested in this project, Thebeeze111! MontyPython already answered some of your questions, but allow me to complete and elaborate. 1. It's perfectly possible to create an alien character, like illustrated by Jannik, for example. However, plese take into consideration that the Empire classically dispises every being that isn't human (you'll see no aliens in the Imperial ranks throughout the movies, and it is established in canon). It's possible to work with an alien Imperial, like goatman461's secondary character (and grand admiral Thrawn in the Expanded Universe), but note that you will then need a strong story to explain why your character can deal with it. 2. You can read in the core rules that the count of your freebuilds resets at the end of each episode. So the freebuilds you'd build now, would count towards your limit of four. You can build more if you want to, but you can only receive XP for four of your freebuilds. As soon as the next episode ends, you can again build four freebuilds for points. But until then, take your time to make them count! 3. I general we don't take player's freebuilds into account to determine what the next episode will be about, because we have kind of a plan as to where thinfs are going. We don't exclude the possibility of a freebuild inspiring us though! As for the story you put into your episode build, that can of course be influenced by your own freebuilds (we like ourselves some good stories, so if you do that, that's always a bonus!). It might be a bit tricky to try to fit your episode build with your freebuilds (MKJoshA, for instance, had to break out of prison at some point to be able to participate, and I'm taking years myself to expl1in what happened with my character ), but that's part of the fun and creativity. 4. I don't recall any such decision ever being made. As far as I know, and the Core rules state that as well, you can only have four freebuilds that count by the end of every episode. If that isn't enough for you, you can always participate in the Bounty Hunter missions. We don't have a single plce where all of the "unlockables" are listed, but let me give you a small list here. This is out of the top of my head, so if anyone notices something I missed, please speak out. - The XP you gain determines the rank of your character. This rank allows your character to do more important stuff, even though we don't have firm rules about this. But it's clear that a fresh recruit won't command an entire squadron or something. Just try to think of what that rank would mean in-universe. If you have a high rank, you also can choose to keep doing ordinary things (my character, for example, still is a more or less ordinary pilot). - Once you've reached 100 XP, you are allowed to have a second character, so that you don't have to feature the same character in eveyr single build. Otherwise, high ranked players with a far adanced story might find it hard to do something appropriate for heir character within the boundaries of a certain episode. - The higher your rank, the more Bounty Hunter Missions you can try. If you can finish them all, you receive a unique tag. For more details, check out the dedicated thread. 5. That's absolutely right! We hope you enjoy it here. I suggest you readnthe same topic MontyPython suggested, if you haven't already, to get a complete overview of the rules.

Firstly, yes, the freebuilds are still going to be judged. We apologize if it takes too long, but you can be sure you'll get the points in the end. However, if you notice that other freebuilds that were posted after yours get points, but yours doesn't, please notify us and we'll see to it that it gets fixed. As long as the Core rules state that freebuilds get judged, they do get judged accordingly... eventually In the Core rules, you can also find how to make those SoNE signatures with the signature generator Bob de Quatre created. You can find it here. You can easily get your picture in it by pasting the url to your avatar image (in your case https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1622/24521491040_85956c494d_t.jpg ) in the corresponding field. If you do it all correctly, you should get something like this: And @Mads Heering, you've been added to the chat. Feel free to discuss there all the thing the Rebels can't know about. If it's nothing critical, you can still use the appropriate threads in this subforum.

I've just added a couple of people to the hidden group messages of the factions. DKTAN, you'll need to make a total of 10 (qualitative) posts on Eurobricks to be able to use the message system. When you've reached your ten posts, leave a message here and I will add you to the conversation. The same goes for all of the others I didn't add to the conversations but want the full SoNE experience! Thanks for joining everyone, have a great time!

Very nice build Junior Shark! I'm sorry I don't have the time to congratulate you with your perfect mixture of angles, roundness and texture. I dropped by to point out to everyone that Junior Shark did indeed upload his pictures after the deadline of the contest, but that he's still participating in it. That's because he contacted us in advance with a very legitimate reason as to why it would be impossible for him to get his pictures up in time. Because this episode didn't have any tactical component to it, we had absolutely no problem giving him some extra days to post his pictures. So his entry is still in the running for XP and for points for his faction for this episode. And since you all were very sorry he apparently missed the deadline, I have no doubt you won't have any problems with this either .