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This thing only looks like it's dead! I've been working on part 4 more as of late, and I've decided that what I had set as its beginning really made more sense as the end of part 3. Unfortunately I can't combine the two animations very easily as they were completed on canvases of different sizes, but here's a separate addendum to part 3 to span the period between it and part 4. SWF Fancy MOV version

This is my big project. I cannot even begin to describe how much Templar's work on BIONICLE has meant to me, but suffice to say what they created is perhaps my most cherished story. I want to be able to pay homage to Templar, as a way of saying thanks, and this is how I am doing it. These animations are made to complement the ones Templar produced for BIONICLE in 2002. It may not be apparent how they are connected yet, but eventually they will fill in the blanks left by Templar's animations. Templar's work was, of course, perfectly functional as a story, but they covered so much ground in so little time that not everything could be shown. This project is sort of going back and looking at the things skipped over. I'm not completely satisfied with these animations (especially the first one, that one's awful), but I am new to Flash and I've intentionally used this first, three-part arc as a testing ground for my animation abilities. Future installments will have a greater focus on plot and character development. Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 3.5 I appreciate any and all feedback. Even if you know nothing about BIONICLE, I'd love to know if the animation looks any good. The assets (art and sound) used are taken from Templar's animations.

I, uh, I'm not going to read through the previous several posts as it's late at night. But I will say that, while it is somewhat of a shame that these new BIONICLE kits aren't as technical as their predecessors, I feel they are an excellent renewal of an old theme that brings strong nostalgia to many LEGO fans. Yes, they don't (on appearance) have a lot of complexity, but I can see benefits from this. 1) The original kits came about when I was very little, and I very much struggled to construct them. These new kits are hence great for drawing in newer, younger audiences. 2) Why reuse the old BIONICLE parts if you are trying to renew an old theme? Take the Doctor Who title theme, for example. The new Series 1 track was very modern in contrast to the original Series 1 track, yet it still carried strong resemblance to it. I personally think it was an excellent revamp. Similarly, this revamp of the old BIONICLE theme 'modernises' it while keeping strong resemblance to the older kits. Plus, for new audiences who have yet to experience BIONICLE, it's awesome. My only real quarrel is that the packaging is in the form of simple boxes, rather than the original tubes. But hey, they have spiders instead. I will not be making the same mistake I did the first time around - I am buying all of these kits.

I just received the badge confirmation from LEGO for the LEGO Invite Only Panel at NYCC. While whether I can actually get there (I was only informed I was one of the fans to get the tickets today) is still in question, if I can get there, I shall certainly post about it here along with whatever images and videos I take of the unveiling of a "New Theme".

*Doesn't thank your post*

It's 3something AM and I haven't really explored all of this myself so here's a link and some screenshots. I trust you can figure it out. http://web.archive.org/web/20041228201034/http://qdn.qubesoft.com/index.php?main=downloads That page now 404s, hence the web archives, though the downloads themselves still seem to be up on Qube's site as well. I've only tried 1.1 stuff so far. QStudio just hangs when I try to launch it but the model viewer works mostly fine (except for crashing on chars.q, maybe others I haven't tried). There's other stuff, like Max and Maya export scripts for the Q format I think, but I haven't toyed with very much of it. Fun fact, this game and LDD/LU share some DNA: http://www.qubesoft.com/index.php?main=consultancy.html Creator model on the left, LU brick icon on the right. Same brick IDs - both drawn from the same official 3D LEGO library.

Quite true. However, ball-joints are Technic. As such, they provide an inherent movement function. The original Toa Mata's primary functions were the ball-joints. Yes, they had gears that made their arms swivel, but those were a superfluous, albeit charming, feature. Their arms could still move without it. Yes, there were other Technic functions on show in 2001, but ball-joints became the dominant function, over the years. Gears continued to be used through 2005, but, the Bohrok aside (now there was a model defined by its function,) only ever in the superfluous manner employed for the Toa Mata. As for the TECHNIC logo, I think it is worth noting that the Pit Droid also had it. Does that mean that Star Wars LEGO sets are only ever made with Technic?

One of the comments on Fred's Twitter account: Logic. EDIT: I'm pretty sure it's a girl too...

I thought about mentioning the Slizers, but I thought I'd spare you another rant. They are admirable in that every set, even the smallest (except the disk packs, of course ) has some Technic function. Bionicle never quite achieved this level of Technic-ality (pun intended ), but I've never really gone for small sets anyway. They're too defined in what you can do with them. Noo... The last .... Whatever, but when things got to that swamp in Karda Nui then things were definitely going downhill. I missed the functions: if you ever are stopping in NZ you'll see that I have hordes of Mata Nui sets, quite a bit of Metru Nui, some Voya Nui and about one Mahri Nui. To me a theme is more than sets and a plot. It's also got to do with the construction of the sets. May I also remind you that the original Bonkles Bionicles in 2001 had the TECHNIC logo on their instructions. This is probably taken as going TOO FAR, but frankly if Bionicle continues at its current rate then it's going to end up like Ben 10 - nothing in the sets except a horrible colour scheme and ball joints - OH WAIT The Bionicle 2010 (?) Stars... those were horrible. Price aside, they had no substance to them. They didn't even have a nice launcher nor weapons, which at least the Voya Nui sets had. They had ball joints and that was IT. Oh, and three pieces of armour (four, mehmehmeh) Even Failure Hero Factory was a step up from THAT. Bionicle has marginally redeemed itself here with more Technic weapons, I'll grant you that.... ... but I want more than weapons... that's what it comes down to. As I said, all hope is not quite lost and if they bring out a nice large and juicy set then it'll be mine... my precious... WHOOPS HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOPE

Dear all of RRU (or the few who will actually read this), I have a great challenge that lies before me. It has been there for a while now, and I have yet to conquer it. I am talking about my 2015 Concert Band Piece. I have tried to work on it, among other things, and keeping up with RRU and I am severely behind if I’m going to make this by spring of next year. That is when I plan to hand the finalized copy to my high school band director. All I have done right now are literally the first 8 bars of 1 instrument. And I have over 13 different types of instruments to work on. That’s just the music itself. I still have to write the sheet music for each instrument in each of their respective keys, and deal with all the little tiny dots and dashes and arcs and other symbols that make music readable. Should be amazing fun, but I’m far from worrying about that. However, it still needs done and I need the time to do it. I have the time to do it, but instead I am messing around on RRU, or learning Python, or playing Goat Simulator. My brother is getting married in eight days, and he’ll be moving out soon after. It’s made me realize that his life is about to take off and he’ll be taking on new challenges, while my life is being stuck in the house all day, surrounded by challenges I should’ve conquered a long time ago. If I’m going to be a famous composer someday, then it’s about time I worked for it instead of waiting for it to come to me. My one and only concern right now is finishing this concert piece. However, there are some “mandatory quests†I have to undergo along the way. This includes finally getting over my fear of driving, a fear that has been lingering for far too long, getting a job, and getting a car. These objectives may seem to get in the way, but if I have them, the better off this project will go. I’ll be able to get the necessary materials to complete it, which will help speed things up. Now as I said earlier, I have the time, but I also have the distractions. I will be severely restricting all activities that aren’t necessary to this current project. Gaming, Python, TV, all that will be cut out of the equation. Unfortunately, this also means cutting back on RRU. I’ve been here over 2 years now, and it’s been great. I’ve made a lot of friends here, and I plan to make more. But for right now, I need to get my mind set on what I need to get done. I won’t be on the RRU Server much, I might pop in for a few if I’ve got some time. No promises. Am I leaving RRU? No. I am merely taking a temporary leave. I have my phone, so I can still check in and stay up to date on the latest from the site, but I probably won’t post anything. I’ll reply to PM’s still, though. As far as Skype goes, I may come on for a few hours just to refresh messages, but I won’t be on all the time. The entire month of October I will be gone. I plan on returning sometime mid-November, or whenever I feel I have done enough to deserve a break. Also, if you follow my YouTube channel, I hope to put up more music sometime throughout this. That’s another thing that I haven’t been maintaining well. Anyway, for now, I bid RRU a temporary farewell. I will return soon. :)

I think that's a very wise decision to make, DM. Of course, while we will very much miss you, your education takes precedence. And taking a temporary leave from RRU and other distractions definitely works, when I left and returned recently I found I was able to breathe a lot more while away, and now I don't have all the unnecessary stresses I was burdening myself with before. None of it is RRU's fault for either of us, of course, but I'm just saying I understand that time out is required on the occasion. I wish you all the best of luck in your project and other endeavours while you are away from RRU! May you conquer and succeed in your goals, and I look forward to hearing from you again when you return. (P.S. If it helps to have a written statement, you are under no obligation to be on the RRU MC server while away. Not that you were before though, obviously, but perhaps hearing it is reassuring?)

Different strokes for different folks. I've got a bunch of LEGO Movie stuff sitting in front of my face nearly all day and I haven't gotten bored of the franchise at all. The story really spoke to me and everything about the movie has been extremely endearing. I'm super excited for the new wave of sets and happy to wait out the years to go until the sequel comes along. That's not at all to say that everyone should feel the same way as I do, but I've gotten the impression that a fair number of people are still interested in the movie, ergo there is a market for the new sets and film and what have you. Think in terms of Toy Story 3 (I keep using it as an analogy for this movie, I should probably think of something else). It came out years after the first two films, but still drew in an audience and was by virtually any count a success. The trick isn't to keep people's interest over time, but to renew it when the proper time comes. It's a little early to say whether The LEGO Movie will have the cultural permanence that Toy Story has, but I think it is safe to say it has made a large enough impact to ensure there will be people to renew the interest of in 2017 (it was 2017, right? I don't remember).