Topic: Terrablox and You: Why You Want Them (Read 9016 times)

Joxam · « **Reply #40 on:** June 09, 2011, 10:03:40 PM »

Split topic? Yes. Ban guild for trying to argue that the dude's product is superior? No, I'm sorry.

Classic · « **Reply #41 on:** June 09, 2011, 10:15:46 PM »

These posts were actually about Terrablox.

Quote from: Classic on June 09, 2011, 08:53:51 PM

This post might be interesting to people who care about Terrablox.

This is a maybe later kind of thing...

Terrablox begs the ability to construct huge structures in 3-space and to have players build enclosed but detailed spaces for their figures to venture into.

I wonder if there's an easy way to get both the neat enclosing and the accessibility of a 2-space projection...

... Maybe cheap, thin, plastic pallets that can be used to add stability to "floors" as they're moved off or on the larger model? Or shifted from the central play area?

Quote from: Demosprite on June 09, 2011, 09:14:29 PM

So hey, about those Terrablox Trevor really wants to get funded.

Yeah Kickstarter basically said no because he wasn't hipster enough. I have been pushing these elsewhere as well, even venturing into the fa/tg/uys channel (Well, one of them) and pushing it there, letting the sysadmins there know to promote it, etc.

I am trying to sell some of my shit to toss money at you Trevor for this because A) God damn I love legos and lego-like objects, B) other things.

teg · « **Reply #42 on:** June 10, 2011, 05:48:23 AM »

Quote from: Defenestration on June 09, 2011, 05:53:28 PM

So there's a collector's item now for big donators!

And it seems to be made of chocolate. :9

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #43 on:** June 10, 2011, 06:23:02 AM »

Terrablox nom nom nom

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #44 on:** June 10, 2011, 06:29:34 AM »

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #45 on:** June 10, 2011, 06:51:11 AM »

T, I am hearing over and over, "How does the tree hold together?"

So I drew this illustration:

Is that accurate?

T · « **Reply #46 on:** June 10, 2011, 06:53:05 AM »

Possibly. That's one of the designs I'm prototyping, along with a simple friction grip and an idea involving notches. Whatever I end up with, SOMEHOW they will stick together horizontally.

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #47 on:** June 10, 2011, 07:03:36 AM »

Alright, then I see a problem with the modularity of the blocks if they are angle-dovetailed (coining a phrase). Friction grips might be a better option. Have you considered using that heavy colored foam they make children's blocks out of? Those would be friction-y enough to hold together with regular dovetails and light enough to stack. You'd still have to injection-mold them because of the bumpy bits top and bottom, so punch-cutting (cheaper) is out.

T · « **Reply #48 on:** June 10, 2011, 07:05:52 AM »

Yeah, that's an idea. Looking at some LEGO knockoffs though, it seems like a friction fit is actually pretty simple to do with ABS, so that's the first thing I'm trying.

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #49 on:** June 10, 2011, 07:26:06 AM »

I just also had the thought that if you WERE to go with EVA foam you'd probably have to make a MUCH more expensive die, which means any money you'd saved on materials would probably be eaten. In fact, it looks like EVA foam is expensiver and hard to find in 1' sheets so w/e on that idea.

ABS expands in warm temperatures and with a friction connection of the type you're talking about you're going to have some pieces a little hard to separate SOME of the time, but I don't think it will be an issue.

Just some of my engineering and fabrication thoughts on this.

T · « **Reply #50 on:** June 10, 2011, 08:46:18 AM »

The pieces are big enough that even if they fit very tightly I don't think anyone over 3 years old is going to have trouble pulling them apart, BUT, that's what prototyping is for. We'll see what happens.

Does anyone happen to have some Heroscape tiles they can takes close up shots of for me? I've been curious how those snap together.

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #51 on:** June 10, 2011, 11:31:21 AM »

I agree with you on that.

I can draw what they look like if you want. After all, I'm also a jobless graphic designer and hey, might as well do something useful with my endless free time and overeducation.

Here's a large-size image I found with a google search of >= 10mp: "Heroscape tile".

Click to enlarge image.

And now I'll draw the technical details out in Illustrator, just give me an hour or so.

TA · « **Reply #52 on:** June 10, 2011, 11:43:26 AM »

Quote from: T on June 10, 2011, 06:53:05 AM

Possibly. That's one of the designs I'm prototyping, along with a simple friction grip and an idea involving notches. Whatever I end up with, SOMEHOW they will stick together horizontally.

Is it possible to put tiny magnets in there? Or would that ramp up production costs to an unacceptable degree?

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #53 on:** June 10, 2011, 11:59:47 AM »

So you can see from the photo and this screenshot that the ramped parts of the teeth are for guiding the pieces together, followed by a very straight up and down 'block' area from the half-way-down point to the base. The base part is dovetailed very slightly inward as well.

I would not recommend making bulges at your square teeth outermost edges to create an interlocking nub, but instead very faintly angled inward walls so that a 'wedging' effect is created. The blocks would then be able to be pushed firmly together and would hold well until you had to kinda knock them apart a little.

Thus:

Ziiro · « **Reply #54 on:** June 10, 2011, 12:45:36 PM »

Quote from: TA on June 10, 2011, 11:43:26 AM

Quote from: T on June 10, 2011, 06:53:05 AM
Possibly. That's one of the designs I'm prototyping, along with a simple friction grip and an idea involving notches. Whatever I end up with, SOMEHOW they will stick together horizontally.

Is it possible to put tiny magnets in there? Or would that ramp up production costs to an unacceptable degree?

The other option would be small indentations and bumps to help lock it into place. That might be too small of a detail to mould, however.

Lottel · « **Reply #55 on:** June 10, 2011, 12:51:50 PM »

Good magnets would be way too expensive. And why use magnets? Other than the fact magnets are cool, an interlocking feature would be cheaper to make, sturdier, and less of a hassle. To be able to build good structures and have things like the trees in the picture the magnets would have t be pretty powerful. And you'd have a bunch of those. Just jostling around a bag (or a case if T makes one, I suppose) and I can't really think of too many people who game without a computer anymore.

Just plain plastic with interlocking features would be cheaper and safer to produce. Not to mention it'd make for more stable structures. Don't know about you, but I get a bunch of lumbering klutzes around my tables. A stray elbow here, and meaty hand batting a square there... Magnets would just crumple and deform. We have a hard enough time with the cardboard mats and figurines falling apart. Re-setting up the board after it's knocked over would just get 10x worse if the magnetized blocks deformed or flew around or something.

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #56 on:** June 10, 2011, 01:22:35 PM »

There, after a hundred tiny edits, there's a fairly accurate schematic. I could round the edges and convert the file to an .eps format so the mould can be CNC machined, too. Before doing that I would probably reduce how far the teeth extend to make the block more block-like. And do some research on the squishyness of ABS so you can get a good estimate of how wide the gaps will be on connected blocks.

The shop you go to would have to handle the top-edge and bottom-edge rounding themselves, but that probably won't be hard for them if they frequently make new moulds.

Classic · « **Reply #57 on:** June 10, 2011, 01:43:31 PM »

It looks like the Terrablox half-pieces are 1/5th the height of a full piece, which means half-height blox would be useful, but first and foremost: stairs. Are spiral stairs are out of the question?

I'm not sure furnishings are the route to go for this, but maybe some chest high walls are in order?

T · « **Reply #58 on:** June 10, 2011, 01:47:32 PM »

I don't know if there's any stair design you could do that would let 1" based minis stand on it?

The short pieces are 1/4" though.

Furniture and other special things could maybe be done as 3D prints, making them like $7 for a single piece.

the asshole you hate · « **Reply #59 on:** June 10, 2011, 01:50:17 PM »

When someone is on the stairs, put another staircase upside down on the first one so you create a 1' high block and put the mini on that, then remove it when they leave the staircase, maybe?

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Author Topic: Terrablox and You: Why You Want Them (Read 9016 times)