The Real Indiana Jones
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Plus, by the time the Viking set comes near to passing, they will have already made a firm decision on whether they want to do any sets based on the THIRD Thor movie... If they aren't going to do any sets as tie-ins to any Thor movies, with all that publicity buzz, then they probably won't do a Thor set at all, and so this one will be in the clear. I remain confident! -
And here is another prototype version of the famous Rainbow Bridge Bifrost from Norse Mythology. This is the portal at Valhalla, so it can be different from the main gate of Asgard, seen in the Thor movie and Lego Marvel game. The name can also be translated as "the shimmering path" or several other variations, and so I may just use the cool-colored end of the spectrum for it. This will also be one of the first few things I render with the POV-Ray software..... Now that ALL OF THE SET MODELS ARE COMPLETE!!! Let me know what you think about any or all of them, and I will make final edits before I start the renderings. And 7,600 views here, Yay!! Thanks to everyone for looking!!
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Interesting video for the Roman History fans
The Real Indiana Jones replied to Faefrost's topic in Culture & Multimedia
That was great! Loved it! You could post it to my thread, since it is 100% relevant there. We haven't said much about Carthage yet. Just so long as it is nice straightforward fact-based like this, and not just wild theories about civs, and it connects to any one of the nine history sets I am showing... I will let the moderator decide. -
Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll still have the DC and Marvel licenses when I have kids... And that will be cool! And if so, then this is a fun way to nudge them to actually do at least one real Asgardian set under the Thor licence. I'd love to see it, one way or another. Plus I'd like to see them try more concept art of some of the more imaginative and monumental locales of the superhero's multi-verses, and then just show it to some focus groups of kids to see what they think! If the kids don't like it, then nothing lost. Perhaps we will see some more imaginative ideas in the bonus levels of Lego Marvel Super Heroes... I think that is the way the concept art for the Orthanc set got nudged forward and green-lit to a real set. Hmmm, or heck, they can just slap Thor's logo on this thing and put it on the shelf... That'd be fine by me! "Thor set...!! Thor set...!! Thor set...!!" Who is with me on this?
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OK, This is what I've done for the Vikings so far... I have a ton of scribbled notes here, but for the moment, I'll just post the pics and say a few words..... 1) So far, this avoids all trademarks and plagiarism, it matches the rest of the sets, and would look good sitting next to the Marvel Thor or Tolkien sets. 2) I'm certain they will release a slightly-bigger Hall of Edoras set for approx $80, and so then the ones posted on Cuusoo will be officially pre-empted. 3) So if they do Edoras at that size, then people can use these interchangeable long-hall modules to assemble several small shrines, to create a village. 4) It's essentially impossible to recreate that spinning spherical Portal Observatory from the Thor movie in bricks, thus it's just normal CGI in the game. 5) So they'll be glad to do an alternative circular version of the Portals, similar to their Portal of Atlantis set or a Stargate, and this is a great alternative. 6) If you are eagle-eyed, you'll see that I adjusted the aperture wings, so the portal can open up much wider now, almost out to the teeth of the gears. 7) I bet that the new head-mold for Smaug will be very close to the size of the one shown here, so it could have a ring of eight pearl-gold Smaug heads. 8) I'll add a Frost Giant from Jotunheim, a FIre Giant from Muspelheim, Elves from Alfheim, and Dark-Elves from Svartalfheim, as in the new Thor movie. 9) With these modular parts, you can easily assemble a little cathedral, complete with nave, apse, and transept, but of course that isn't an official model. 10) Plus I'll try doing the steps with just the "cool-colors" of the spectrum in trans-colored-1x1-tiles, so it looks more like the movie, and not so rainbowy!
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Plus, I love how the Greek factions look like they're in a fraternity. You'll see them everywhere at universities here in the states, and in the new Disney-Pixar Monsters sequel. In fact, the original reason the first college fraternities chose three Greek letters was to style themselves after ancient warriors, and like rival factions competing for power! Plus European-Football and American-Football teams always love to use ancient warrior names too. And you can have an Ancient 2016 Olympics, so it'll be super fun! They'll be in Rio, so I am sure it will be spectacular... Indy Out
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Oh, and while I have everyone's eyeballs here, I should post this for review... Each civ has a banner that can go on elephants, standards, forts, temples, etc. Please take a look at these to make sure that all the spellings are correct, because I know how people blew up over the whole "sheild" vs "shield" misspelling. Tolkien had it easy... He got to just make all of his languages up! I may also do alternate versions with fancy borders and decorative motifs for them all later. Also note that all of the civs of the Middle-East will have brightly-colored banners, architecture, and inscriptions with the names of specific ancient kings in iconically-recognizable ancient script styles, all from many centuries B.C. That way, it will be wonderfully clear to everyone that these are Ancient World sets, with no connection to the rivalries of the Medieval or Modern Eras. Plus, all of the human civilizations will be brave heroes, struggling to forge a fragile international alliance, to stop the rage of the villainous Titans! Have Fun...! therealindy
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Thanks!! And if you like Vikings, then I'd love to hear if you have any ideas you especially want to see as sets. Be sure to look up and read the few posts above where Blakstone and I are talking about Heorot and Edoras, et cetera. I'll be adding to the Vikings set soon, or perhaps doing some major changes on it, although I have not decided exactly what yet....!
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Dynamite, that's exactly what I was aiming for!! Ah, for starters, it might make a difference if all of the individual sub-models are magnified to exactly the same scale. All the sets have about the same total volume of bricks. And what else would you add to the Titans set? Go ahead and throw out suggestions. I designed it while watching the movies, but I may have overlooked something. And for the Vikings, I think there's about a 99.99% chance that Lego is already planning to release an official "Hall of Edoras" set for the Lord of the Rings theme all by themselves. Personally, I'm ecstatic about that, because I can't wait to buy it, but it means that all of the lovely Edoras sets on Cuusoo will be sadly pre-empted, just like all of the Orthanc projects that were on Cuusoo were recently pre-empted by the official Orthanc. And so, I think that Beowulf and Heorot or even a Norse Temple would also be semi-pre-empted by an official Edoras set, just for being so similar. To do Cuusoo, you really have to be careful about that! Actually, one of the absolutely best ways to know what they are planning for a major theme is to look at the all of the levels and backgrounds and secret-bonus-levels in the Traveler's Tales Lego video games..... In fact, that is where the Tower of Orthanc model first appeared. It was part of a secret bonus level for the LOTR video game..... And of course, if it appears as a virtual brick-built model in a video game, then that is 100% rock-solid-proof that they have already done the concept art for it! For the moment, I am seeing that the Portals of Bifrost in the teaser trailers for the new Lego Marvel game are not brick-built..... And I also see that the Lego LOTR game has a virtual brick-built concept model for the Hall of Edoras in the bonus level...... I have a lot more scribbled notes here, but I will leave it at that for now..... And things may change after the new Thor movie and the new Lego Marvel video game come out..... And then I can build an ancient temple in a day!
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All right, I know it looks like I am just talking to myself, but we are actually right about at 7,000 views here, so my audience is just very quiet lately! One more fun thing. Andromeda's Convertible Sedan-Chair / Carriage. The Titans set just looked a tad bit incomplete. OK, so now it is officially $1200 total MSRP, and that can easily justify 80 or more minifigs... Totes adorbz, no? =) She has the new Princess Leia braid from the Sail-Barge set, and a pomegranate like in the new Chima set with Gorzan's mech.
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So, of these nine sets, which ones strike you as your favorites? If I decide to choose one or two to focus on especially, which would it be? I think I have an idea of which ones to emphasize, but I'd like to hear from everyone...
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And the new set images will go at the top of Page 6...... I think these look rather promising... They will each be very near $120. Oh yes, plus these two, which are about 90% complete now... So that is 9 sets for about $1200 total, including the UCS-scale set. Closer views of all of the things in the sets can be seen across the previous several pages of the thread. Feel free to comment! Thanks, "therealindy" (Archaeologist, Archaeology, Ancient, History, Greece, Greek, Sparta, Spartan, Athens, Athenian, Athena, Parthenon, Shrine, Oracle, Mythology, Troy, Trojan, Trireme, Odyssey, Epic, Movie, Clash of the Titans, Olympus, Legolympus, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Cerberus, Medusa, Perseus, Pegasus, Andromeda, Kraken, Colossus, Colosseum, Rome, Roman, Forum, Ballista, Catapult, Battering Ram, Legion, Centurion, Caesar, Carthage, Elephant, Egypt, Egyptian, Lighthouse, Alexandria, Chariot, Fort, Boat, Nubia, Nubian, Celts, Celtic, Stonehenge, Garden, Babylon, Babylonian, Alexander, Persia, Persian, Immortal, Warrior, 300, Medieval, Viking, Portal, Bifrost, Thor, Loki, Odin, Asgard, Valhalla, Valkyries, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Ragnarok, Glory, Sagas, Wonders of the World, Modular, Classical, Temple, Architecture, International, Global, Games, Minifigures, CMF)
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OK, since the theme of Page 5 has been all about resolving unfair pop-cultural depictions of civilizations, here is one last thing on that note... There are two versions here... Can you "Spot The Difference"? No, it's not in the inscription... And no, it's not just the version number! Either way, I am 100% happy with both of these, and I think it will be great for Lego to do great representations of more people from Africa. Note they did do the hero named Seso from Prince of Persia, and he was a great looking African minifig, so they can use him as a reference point in design. It is also cool to see a realistic Iron-Age African Civilization, which was very widespread across most of Africa since Antiquity. They will be forging an international alliance, and joining forces with Egypt as part of my Egyptian set. Let me know what you think, and if you reply, then perhaps quote the images, so people can see them over on Page 6...... See you on the there!! 6,400 page views and counting!! "therealindy"
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Yes, Thanks to SerenityInFIre for finding the right headgear. I looked through everything on LDD again, and that really is the best one. Below is a Byzantine-Roman Cataphract to go with the Roman Ballista-Mounted Elephant. If he carries the iconic Roman shield, it looks great. If the royal guard headgear matches the Persians, that acknowledges that the Byzantine-Romans first encountered the use of cataphracts from Persia. Here comes the Cavalry!
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OK, since we are just about done here, I will post a few Behind The Scenes things. First we have the final Team Color Chart, and the Materials Color Chart. The only surprise here is that I will suggest they resurrect or re-invent a "legacy color": Pearl-Bronze, a.k.a. rare "Metallic Sand Yellow" from the Bionicle sets. It makes perfect sense to print all of the shields on the same pearl-bronze-colored plastic, then print the two colors for the design on the face of it, like LOTR. Next, to the left, to the left... Break your neck to the left to see the detailed brick counts and approximate total MSRP for all the sets. My calculations suggest about $1.50 per minifig plus 9 cents per normal brick for unlicensed flagship sets in the $120-$140 range. The Spartans are just $50, most others are exactly $120 each, and The Odyssey and Roman Forum could be $130 or $140 each. And finally, here is one last Behind the Scenes feature for you. I believe that's the single best way construct a Stonehenge using Lego bricks at minifig scale. We will be on page 6 in a bit, so if you refer to these, you should probably quote them so they appear on the next pages..... And feel free to comment on any aspect! This thread is nearly done, so now is the time for comments! Thanks and have fun! therealindy
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Ah, yes, I am liking this a lot better, for a lot of reasons... The colors here are pearl-gold and metallic-gold, and the redder-nougat, with dark-tan hats, which are the Royal Guard headgear from Star Wars, since the Immortals were the elite royal guard. So hopefully that helps take care of demonization issues and copyright issues all at the same time... In fact, the painting shown here comes from the history pages of a non-profit educational outreach group, The Iran Chamber Society, which contributes a lot of info to Wikipedia pages that kids see for school... So I hope we are 100% in the good zone now on this... In fact, I've always suspected that one of the reasons Lego hasn't done an Ancient World theme yet is that they do not want to portray any civ badly, and rightly so... ...Also, as a side note, we won't use the Uhura-Mazda motif, since Zoroastrianism is still a currently active world religion, so Lego wouldn't use their symbols... ...So now we can start fresh, and discuss various armaments and headgear, et cetera... They mastered almost every type of weapon imaginable, including an ancient version of grenades, which I think were styled to look like pomegranates. Let me know if you like this better! Again, I'll be very busy for the next few days, but I will definitely check back periodically..... "therealindy"
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OK, since the Romans have their own unique and highly experimental new unit in the field, the Ballista-Elephant, the Greeks are eager to match their ingenuity. They have upgraded the Helepolis Siege Tower with a Greek Fire Siphon Turret. Early versions of Greek Fire date to centuries before Byzantium... Fire it up! I know this also appeared in Assassin's Creed, Pirates of the Caribbean, Percy Jackson, and in the books of George R. R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones. If anyone has read more of the books or played more of those games, can you think of more "wonder weapons" or "inventions that *could* have been real"? Have Fun! I will be busy the next few days, but I will definitely check back periodically..... "therealindy"
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Ah, for accuracy, the "fire-bombs" are 100% historically correct, invented in 900 BC in Assyria, and that's why I liked them! Plus it is a cool high-tech thing for the era. I did not see any one perfect shield style for them, so I just decided to have them double-wield with two swords. The katana works fine, since they used a variety of swords. So basically, it just comes down to color! I do not want to portray any human civilization as pure villains, but it definitely follows "The Rule of Cool". Read this link a moment! See also, "Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja", "Instant Awesome, Just Add Mecha", "Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons", et al. I'm sure the Lego designers refer to this quite often!
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Oh, chronologically, cataphracts could be totally fine, but the thing is that they just look too Medieval to most people's eyes, especially since I would need to use pre-existing Castle-Era parts to make them. So instead I may do Alexander's Companion Cavalry, just to fulfill the strategic role of heavy-cavalry and shock-cavalry on the ancient field. Ah, well that is not the main thing I am worried about. One of the things they do in the Business Case Phase is to determine if a Public Domain concept is too close to any other existing copyrights in a way that might create any issues. If so, then they just tweak it, in this case a simple color swap! Actually, my main concern has nothing to do with legalities, it is more a matter of not wanting to portray any human civilization as an evil villain! This is what I said on the project page earlier today... "I know I can make obvious references to the general style of the movie, (and I think that they might *want* me to do exactly that, in the exact same way that the Dino themes were an obvious reference to Jurassic Park, as Adventurers was an early reference to Indiana Jones, as Fantasy Era Castle was an homage reference to LOTR, as Agents was a direct reference to James Bond, etc, etc...) so long as I make it clear that this is based on real events from 2500 years ago, and not anything currently under copyright... If they need to, they can easily make the Persians wear brighter colors, so that they do not seem to be portrayed so overtly as the villains. I think everyone sees that that's not my intention! After all, the Titans are the villains in this story, so we do not need to portray any human civ as the villain in any way!! Peace on Earth!! =) =) =)"
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No worries! In fact I removed that Indiana Jones MOC from Cuusoo a while back, partly because I knew it would be too much of an overtly religious portrayal! Looking at all of the sets they've done over the years, it's clear that ancient mythology and temples are always A-OK, so I'm sure everything is totally cool. And believe me, I love reading about the ***ual practices of global civs, but I would never suggest a Babylonian Hieros Gamos or the Rites of Dionysus! Oh, and "Tres... Catorce... Turn it up loud, Captain" comes from the . I was referencing the part where he goes "All of this can be yours". As a joke, Bono goes straight to 14... a classic reference to the part in Spinal Tap where he goes "all the way to 11"! Being a Kiss fan, I'm sure you've seen.
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In celebration of 6,000 views here in the History Forum... Caesar's upgraded Rostra. These printed banners are the same as on the elephants, and they can hang from the rafters of any temple in LegoLand! All the shields will be printed on the newer Captain America style mold, just like they did for LOTR, and just like a real convex ancient hoplon shield. This goes in my newly expanded Roman Forum set, so now you can capture the Carthaginian War-Elephant and officially re-flag him for the *REAL* Glory of Rome! (Ah, did you see what I did just there? It was like a *pun* kinda, did you see that?) If you click on the pic, it opens the voting pages.
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Ah yes, so if you've seen Darius in Oliver Stone's excellent movie "Alexander", as well as the famous mosaic, then I think the way I've shown Xerxes is just about right, including the keffiyeh-style head-wear, which probably covered his more elaborate golden crown during battles. Also notice the rectangular shields in the background, which is the kind I gave them. And of course, I am avoiding the artistically-over-the-top-caricatured version of Xerxes from the movie 300, partly because it's a uniquely copyrighted character, and partly because it is R-rated! As a side note, that outrageously stylized portrayal is based on the Ancient Greeks derision of their enemies, whom they chided as "too soft from too much luxury". Hmm, when I see the farmer's cowl, I immediately associate it with the peasant farmers we have all known and loved since the '80s, not elite fighters! The headgear I used is actually the Star Wars Royal Guard mask, in part because the Immortals were actually elite royal guards. They should also definitely be wearing trousers, and not pteruges (or pteryges). The main reason I used the katana sword was because it is the only sword that fits into that double-back-scabbard. Also, including the elephant trainer from India, and the ninja-styled Immortals definitely makes them look a lot more like mercenaries in a huge cosmopolitan empire, and more "Eastern" and more "Asian" in the totally broadest geographic meaning. To make them look less evil, they could just change their uniforms from the evil-looking black to a brighter color with nice prints, and voi-la! Perhaps their main team color could be sand-red and something, since the Romans and Spartans are dark-red and gold. In Civilization V, Persia's team color is bright red, or it could be any color combo, just like you said. Plus, I am totally sure that Lego has already done top-quality concept art sketches for ancient warriors from just about every major civilization on Planet Earth, including the Persian Immortals, the Qin Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors, an Aztec Jaguar-Warrior to go with the CMF Aztec Eagle-Warrior, Maya, Inca, etc, etc. They can use the artwork they have done. Also, making them look like the guys from 300 is just a faster way to get to 10,000! Then Lego can always alter them to match their own concept art, or their own comfort-zone. Seriously, I'd say that's the number one problem with a lot of Cuusoo projects, is that they are just re-inventing minifigs and character designs that the Lego artists have **already** done concept art for!! And if Lego does pre-empt us all a little bit, and make their own Greco-Roman theme, I will doubly ecstatic... Partly because I will want those sets one way or another, with no "Sour Grapes" attitude... And partly because if they make Greeks and Romans, then it will just create more demand for my Babylonian Hanging Gardens set and Persian set to match the Greeks, and Carthaginians and my Celtic frontier fortress and Stonehenge set to match the Romans!!
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Hmm, or in general, I think there are three different levels to discuss... 1) Do the various models look right? Are there specific points that need to be fixed? 2) Do the sets work well for story and playability? That will determine which things go together with which things in different sets. 3) How will people react overall? Is any human civilization represented unfairly? Are there any aspects that Lego would deem too controversial or too aggressive? I'm eager to discuss all that, but in a **civilized** way, OK?! Here are the 3 Greek-themed sets again..... I will do quick collages like this for the other civ sets next.....
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1) Thanks...! I thought about that too while doing my research, so if you have alternate images of the Persians and the Immortals, or anything else, definitely go ahead and post or link to them here...! 2) If I made the Persians look evil, it was simply an indirect reference to 300, a famous blockbuster movie that a ton of people want to see in Lego. That might change if it is too negative or mean. 3) I actually added the Persians in at the last moment, since fans requested it. So I did not really have any particular pre-existing vision for what they should look like exactly. 4) The appearance of Xerxes is based on the famous mosaic of Alexander facing the Persian king Darius, which is echoed in the Oliver Stone film "Alexander", which is an excellent movie worth seeing. 5) The Persian Immortals seem to have dressed in a fantastic array of outfits and colors. They were famous for combining the troops and tactics of all of the nation they ruled. Is there one iconic version? 6) Also remember that with Cuusoo, you can't suggest any newly-molded-parts together in the context of a new set, so I have to use all pre-existing parts for hats, helmets, hairstyles, et cetera...! 7) And in case anyone is confused, Xerxes was his name in Greek, Ahasuerus is one of his names in the Bible, and Xšayārša or Xshayaarsha or Xsayarsa is his original name in Persian, which is written in cuneiform in several of the prototype pics above.
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Hi, Thanks to both Moderators...! These are all excellent points, but it can quickly descend into "trolling" and "flaming"...!