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I rendered these several months with intent for something more organized with accompanying .lxf files and descriptions, but then they just sat there unnoticed, so I'm just going to bundle them unceremoniously together into this topic. They are models from my 2nd Gen BattleBot series, a mix of original, slightly modified, heavily updated, and unreleased models.

I stumbled across a website called the 'Bad Translator', which allows you to input text and have it translated several times over in various online translators such as Bing. It generally ends up getting some pretty bizarre results (hint: the longer the text and translation number, the better), some of which can be rather funny, so as Drill Master suggested I thought I'd make a topic for people to share their translations on. The website is very easy to use and can be found here: Bad Translator. Simply translate a piece of text and copy and paste the result in the pop-up into a post here. Example: Original text: 'If you select the red brick, you go. If you select the green brick, you stay.' Translates to: 'Glass and red. If you select the stones next to the hotel.' Some translations Arthuriel, Biorune, Drill Master and I have done already:

Issue 19 is posted. That finishes up the issues of Adventures! that hadn't been shared before. I'll move on to the sole new issue of Bricks n' Pieces next, then take on the task of translating the two issues of World Club Magazin. After that, I'll scan my copies of the Adventures!/Bricks n' Pieces issues already online. Once I'm done with that, I think that I will move on to the US LEGO Magazine, or more specifically the first few years of it (2002 - 2005). Previously I hadn't undertaken the task of uploading them as it seemed as if more people had access to them than other magazines, and as a result making them available online would be relatively useless. I now feel that uploading them could potentially do at least some good, so why not? Huh, I didn't notice that. I imagine that it is possible that the script used Axle, and whoever was creating the art for the panel confused the characters. Funny that nobody noticed the problem, though (especially since it occurred twice). Good thing the laser didn't instantly melt the laser like it would actually if this were realistic. Good thing Jet managed to deflect the laser at precisely the angle necessary to knock the Rock Monster off of its perch without damaging it or the HQ. You've made me curious - why is it you dislike the existence of another Brickolini?

Uh, no, that's now what I'm saying. I'm saying 3D map system, not block system. You can move on all axis instead of just the two 2D ones in 2D map systems.Compare Minecraft or Dwarf Fortress to Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, even LRR. It doesn't have to be a 3D block system to be a 3D map system. Okay.I was saying that having the walls made out of smaller blocks would be awesome for the reasons I said above. Lair mentioned about having the ground also use those smaller blocks for elevation. (3D block system, like Minecraft) I said it wouldn't be easy to use with large buildings and vehicles like LRR has. Addict is talking about having different levels (like floors, cave system on top of cave system). (3D map system, like how dungeon games work - stairs going up/down, rooms on top of rooms, etc)

Uh, no, that's now what I'm saying. I'm saying 3D map system, not block system. You can move on all axis instead of just the two 2D ones in 2D map systems.Compare Minecraft or Dwarf Fortress to Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, even LRR. It doesn't have to be a 3D block system to be a 3D map system.

Not bad. There aren't many things to designate that this is a teleport pad though. It looks more like an open garage. If you put a teleport system (like on the LMS) in somewhere it would take to its role better.

I really like the design, and it definitely has more of an hanger/landing pad feel than a vehicle shop/motor pool like the Super Teleport in game. Nice work. Only other comment would be that the back of "control station" (on the second level) should have something solid or a railing. It feels a bit too open right now.

Ooh, very nice. I like the generator on the side. This may inspire a few ideas...

You will need a mesh to get the view correct, as for texture sizes, this is called LOD - Level of detail - we have this, you have 8 levels of texture detail and it uses the optimal texture for the distance away from the camera. With the power of PC's, memory and video acceleration, the mesh detail and textures are going to look great, this is not a concern.

All of the Alpha Team online games are available for download in a single zip file from Project Brick. I find it to be easiest at the moment to access it here. Just click on AlphaTeam.zip.

No. There is absolutely no fun to be gained from this. It would be annoying, illogical, and utterly pointless. It would completely break a ton of things like, say, Run the Gauntlet, Don't Panic, Split Down the Middle, or any level involving you focusing on controlling individual units, or levels involving choke points/points of no return (say, like Erode Works in the first game). And even in the more standard levels you'd be forced to stay with under a game mechanic like that, you'd basically just be amplifying the existing LRR AI problems, with units wasting a ton of time running across the whole freaking map ten times over for no reason. Did I mention that in addition to causing a ton of problems, from severely limiting level design to making the AI even more unbearable, it doesn't make anything else in the game more fun? It's literally 100% terrible. Just no.

Original text: "I see what you did there." ...35 translations later, Bing gives us: "Life"

That's because he's been advertising this on BZPower for a while and he's mostly got people from there with this. Anyway, I'm a bit concerned that you didn't give any information on what sort of game this is, how you're creating it, what tools, what engine, etc. I've seen countless LEGO fan games that advertise like this until the person or people behind it realize they haven't actually been working on a game.

Games stopped being good when the industry stopped seeing games as an artform and started treating them as commodities.

What can I say? I haven't played a game for ages. Nothing interests me anymore. Would love a video game industry crash right now... see what arises from the rubble.

One of the biggest problems I come across in gaming is story. It's a tricky element to get right, and people are both going to want it or going to hate it. The biggest problem is that if you go for a story, you either have to keep it basic as a way to establish why the player is in the game in first place (I call this the "Call to Suspension" trick), or it becomes a core part of the game (I'd call this an "Experience", as you would have noted in a previous Wot I Fink). There's going to be a little less opinion on what method is better this time, because as I explain later, they both have their own appropriate applications. Really, this is more to give people a general idea of how they should approach the type of story they need to write. I certainly want to go more indepth on what makes a good story, and common rookie errors and things that could improve any story. NOTE: There are games with NO story at all. I still believe they're under Call to Suspension; they just presume you'll create your own story from the very get-go by giving you the tools you need to build a story. Type 1: Call to Suspension Suspension of Disbelief. Whenever you watch a movie, read a book or play a game, that's what the author wants to happen. Hell, even your dreams are based around this principle. You know the idea of the "lucid dream", where you realise you're dreaming and can go crazy? Have you ever "woken up" while playing a game seriously, and suddenly tried to mess around with the engine in crazy ways? Same ideas are at work here. I call this the "Call to Suspension" because the principle of the story writing method is not trying to throw a player into this deep and riveting plotline in which they must follow carefully to make any sense of. The idea here is that the player is that you simply need to give a purpose to the player's actions. You're calling them, telling them that this is what you're going to be doing, and then if they like the premise they'll suspend disbelief and get lost in your world. This is what most games do. Think Mario. Simple premise: As a mushroom-addicted plumber, save the princess from the lunatic steroid-addicted turtle. It gives you a reason to play, but after that, there's no specific plot line, no story to follow aside from going further through the acid trip and eventually getting a kiss from Princess..."Peach". That's peachy, but what about something else? Let's try something like an MMO; EVE Online. You're a spaceship. In space. Drilling rocks. Watch out for anything else that moves. Especially if they look like this. The point of this method is that gameplay is your focus. Typically, this is where most indie developers start (See: Minecraft). The point is that you're playing a game for fun. You shouldn't need a big over-arching story to drown in. You just need to have a reason for being their, and a good set of mechanics which don't get boring fast. Now, there are some games which are an advancement on that. EVE Online doesn't have quests. What about (my interpretation of) LEGO Universe? There's a story (something about creepy evil skeletons with a fetish for the colour purple and a bunch of barbarians with dashing good blonde hair), and then you can get quests in the game. It's the exact same principle. The overarching story (fetish skeletons v. poncy barbarians) doesn't connect with the side-quests, and in fact there's no real "way" to complete it; it's just giving you purpose to be there. And the side-quests are giving you extra stuff to do in the world, but they don't have elaborate setups where the entire family of a drug lord is now being hunted down by Jedi Jesus, who himself is on a redemption mission after setting alight a school of children clothes with nothing but tattered rags collected from a crashed spa...you get my point. Type 2: Experience Experience needs to be well written. Story is the core of your game. Everything needs to be fleshed out, and well. Even if the players can never find out the true story of every character and object, you must have giant scripts written of every motivation, every action, every line spoken, and hell, every time a character goes for a smoke. The experience is just that; your gameplay is probably solid, but you're beyond gameplay. You want to tell a story using game technology as your communication device. You therefore need to think like a game designer, but craft like a sculpture artist and write like a poet while thinking like a movie director. If that didn't turn you to alcohol, then you're on your way to becoming a good story teller in gaming. I will come back in another Wot I Fink and explain more about what makes a great gaming story. There's a lot of little intricate things that make a story work, the important one being tension. Nonetheless, what I want to say here is that this type of story in gaming requires significant more effort on the part of the Creative Director/Lead Designer/Script Writer etc. It's not something that can be tested by loading up a map on a debug version and going through a checklist. It requires hours and hours of a variety of people to run through the game, giving their thoughts on if the story is interesting or not. If the story fails, gameplay WON'T save you, unlike the other type of story writing. Even if you have the most amazing mechanics in the world, they're supposed to be the support element to the world you want to put the player in. You will be lambasted if you epic tale of the ant who couldn't walk straight fails. The most important thing to remember about this type of story, is that the player needs to be involved, and they should have no questions about their actions, unless that's your intention. If you've ever played an RPG like Mass Effect or KotORII, you should know this well enough. Every action the player can take is given proper context, and the player has choice. Furthermore, there's plenty of foreshadowing of future events to show the developers know where they want to go with the story, and it gives players proper tension and allows them to feel like the world isn't just a static "do this because EXP". There's things going on and the player is a part of it. Of course, you don't need branching storylines, player choices or even morality systems. It's up to you how far the player interacts (compare Heavy Rain, The Walking Dead [Telltale Games], Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Fallout 3). The important question is how the story works around the player. Conclusion I don't want to come off and say which method is better in this Wot I Fink. I think that's a little obvious, but more importantly, it's not true, because they work for entirely different games and do entirely different things, so therefore neither is better than the other. The important point to focus on is the understanding of your medium. You need to have an advanced understand of how ideas are communicated through games, and need to consider what the most effective way to get through to your audience is. Game theory is more complex than you might appreciate at first, but by learning it, either through college, through self-teaching with books or by studying popular games, or even by talking to successful designers, you'll be able to gain the understand you need to start creating the exact type of story you need for your game. You wouldn't go back in time and kill Edison to turn off your light switch, just as you wouldn't create a giant plot for a game like Peggle. And that's Wot I Fink.

Nothing to see here.