tailchaser
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 38
Registered: 01-09-2006
IP: Logged

A couple days ago, I was thinking about what to use as a forum avatar. "It might be cool to make an avatar with Lego", I thought. "I wonder why more people don't do something like that?", I naively thought also. Well, it turns out it's ridiculously hard to get a decent digital picture of something that small, and that reflective, with the camera that close to it, and it requires a lot of messing around with photo editors and strategically placed desk lamps to get the colors and shadows to look right. But, just after the two thoughts I described, I had remembered that the castle-themed Lego sets used to have a piece in them which was a helmet with a yellow plume that looked remarkably like Beethro's hair. So I decided to make this little scene from DROD to commemorate finishing King Dugan's Dungeon. I had to do it, because of the hair.



The picture still didn't come out terribly well, but this was the best I could do for now, without any of the fancy techniques and special lenses that professional photographers use. (I didn't ever have any disrespect for them, of course, but I really have a new respect for the creators of Irregular Webcomic and Legostar Galactica...) Incidentally, Beethro is wearing a yellow shirt in all of the official illustrations, but the Lego Group doesn't seem to make any solid yellow torso pieces (probably they thought that would make a Lego person look too much like he was naked) so I decided to go with the least clashing color, and substituted a black torso instead. Because... Beethro's shirt got stained black from having to hack his way through too much Living Tar! Yeah, that's the ticket!


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bill-Wiz-Elf-Mal-Cha died in The Dungeons of Doom on level 1. Killed by a burning scroll.

ErikH2000
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2796
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Wow, you couldn't ask for a better piece to use for Beethro's hair! Very nice.

-Erik

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The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Chalks
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 267
Registered: 04-17-2005
IP: Logged

I'm inspired!


*shall return in several days with "something"...*

Bombadil
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 529
Registered: 06-01-2005
IP: Logged

Awesome.

Darkmatt
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 51
Registered: 05-16-2005
IP: Logged

That's just beautifully creative. All we need is a Deadly Hedgemaze of Death and we could start our own DRoD cameo section.

If I was picky, I would say "I think living tar is suppose to be blue, I've been listening to those architects at the Rooted Empire too much."

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3685
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

That looks a lot more like a black rock golem than the 'Neather.

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Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

AlefBet
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 979
Registered: 07-16-2003
IP: Logged

Chaco wrote:
That looks a lot more like a black rock golem than the 'Neather.

Hmm. I thought it looked like a Wraithwing. Is it supposed to be the 'Neather?

As a side comment, I was getting ready to make this post when I became mesmerized by Darkmatt's avatar. I kept watching level after level wondering what was coming next, until my conscious mind insisted, "Hey! It's just on a loop!"

(Even then, I watched for about 30 more seconds.)

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I was charged with conspiracy to commit jay-walking, and accessory to changing lanes without signaling after the fact .

++Adam H. Peterson

tailchaser
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 38
Registered: 01-09-2006
IP: Logged

That looks a lot more like a black rock golem than the 'Neather.

Hmm. I thought it looked like a Wraithwing. Is it supposed to be the 'Neather?

Actually... this is kind of humiliating, but it's my attempt at a roach. I started by making 6 legs out of those joints with a 1x2 plate on either side, which initially seemed like a good choice, and was one of very few pieces I could place at a believable angle rather than just straight down or straight across, but also meant each leg is longer than one of the tiles on the floor, and every piece I added made it further off scale. Since I originally intended to take a picture from nearly straight overhead, like the view in DROD, I ended up sticking all the pieces together vertically to keep them from sticking out sideways (I thought that the camera angle would hide any excess in height, but an excess in width would be really obvious.) But all the pictures I took from that angle looked terrible, and besides you couldn't see Beethro's hair from straight overhead (which is of course the highlight of the whole model.) So instead I ended up taking a picture at a slight downward angle, which reveals how horribly deformed the roach is. Seriously, it's the only roach in the world with a thorax taller than it is long...

In retrospect, I really should have dug up another black multi-direction connector so I could attach the wings to the back of the roach's head rather than the top. That would have made it stick out farther to the back, but it would look much more believable. Incidentally, my avatar is the same roach against a different background, so that should give you an idea of how it was supposed to look.

So today's lesson is, if you must try to make Lego bugs, at least don't make them as small as possible!

Mouse
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 246
Registered: 04-21-2005
IP: Logged

tailchaser wrote:
Well, it turns out it's ridiculously hard to get a decent digital picture of something that small, and that reflective, with the camera that close to it, and it requires a lot of messing around with photo editors and strategically placed desk lamps to get the colors and shadows to look right.

<snip>

The picture still didn't come out terribly well, but this was the best I could do for now, without any of the fancy techniques and special lenses that professional photographers use.

Try putting the model onto something white (such as the back of pieces of paper) on your dining table and then taking the picture. I take my LEGO pictures on our (covered) pool table with my digital camera's macro setting on & they come out fine.

Chaco
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3685
Registered: 10-06-2005
IP: Logged

That big staff-ish thing looked a lot like a hammer, so I figured it was supposed to be the 'Neather...

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Quick links to my stuff (in case you forgot where it was):

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
IP: Logged

Heh. I thought it was a wraithwing, since the color is right and it seems to have wings...

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I got my avatar back! Yay!