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Hey all, I'm rioforce. I'm the brother of le717. I joined this forum because le suggested it, so that's why I'm here. Now, a little about myself: I am a LEGO fan I make LEGO stop-motion videos I like the classic LEGO games like LEGO Island and LEGO Racers I have never played Rock Raiders. I like organizing things into lists I am a graphic designer and artist I am a Johnny Thunder fanatic My username is a mixture of the words "Ryo" and "Exo-Force" And that's pretty much it. -rioforce

Well, looks like the Random Number Gods were ever in my favor for once and I was not selected as tribute this year. Excellent. That means I'm guaranteed to survive... at least, for another year... Unless the Random Number Gods happen to change their mind (like they're prone to do whenever they support me) and I catch dysentery. Then, I can get buried next to Andy, Peperony, and Chease on the trail to Oregon. I hope I'm not the only one who immediately thought of that when I read how MaelstromIslander died... In the meantime, let's grab some popcorn for all of us (except the ones who are dead) as we see who wins this Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate DestinyTM which has no actual bearing on our real lives except for the possibility of permanent death.

I started work on updating the visual on some of the content and I wanted to show off the before and after: As you can see the right is way more defined and the models are higher quality, though the majority of the 3D mesh is still the same. I'm also doing Ambient Occlusion where ever possible, the effect can be best seen on the Chainsaws (The shadowing effect).

Hey rob, welcome to the flaming organ bloody diarrhea club! Where we randomly combust into flames for absolutely no reason!

With the success of last year's Simpsons House and Minifigures series, it's no surprise that we've got another direct-to-consumer set and Minifigures series for the theme. Both have been circulating in the rumor mill for quite some time, but now they've both been officially unveiled. Check out the Kwik-E-Mart and Simpsons series 2. Sources: Brickset

--Long ago, on the beautiful island of Okoto, the inhabitants lived in a time of peace under the rule of two Mask Makers, Makuta and his brother Ekimu, who created Masks of Power for them. The brothers themselves wore special masks: Makuta used the Mask of Control, while Ekimu used the Mask of Creation. Eventually, the great craftsmanship and renown of Ekimu caused Makuta to become jealous, and he disobeyed sacred laws to forge the Mask of Ultimate Power. As soon as Makuta donned the mask, he was consumed by its power, and the island started to break apart. Realizing this, Ekimu attacked Makuta, knocking the mask from Makuta's face. This caused a shockwave, which cast both brothers into an endless slumber. All three masks were scattered across the island, where they remain until they can be found again.-- Chapter One: Fire I'm burning... I thought to myself as I awakened. I'm burning. But the fire does not harm me... "Hello?" A voice called out from beyond the smoke that clouded my vision. The voice called out again "Is anybody in there?" it said. My muscles ached. I fell from somewhere, although I do not know where. I do know one thing though. My name is Tahu. I felt a hand grab my head and shake it around. I believe it belonged to the voice "Are you alive? Do you need help?" It said. "I'm fine." I replied, brushing the hand away from my face. "I only fell." I reached for the nearest object to pull myself up with. From what I could feel, I was in a bowl-shaped depression in the ground. How far did I fall? I asked myself as I stood up. Everything hurt, I wasn't sure where I was, and there was an annoying creature intent on offering his services to me when I did not need them. "Where am I?" I asked. I still could not see who was talking to me. "You are in the Region of Fire on the Island of Okoto. We've been expecting you for a long time, Toa Tahu." The voice answered. "Region of Fire?" I asked "Okoto, Toa, what do you mean? Who are you?" I asked "I am a villager of this region. I was lava-hopping when I saw you fall. I got here as soon as I could to see if you were okay." The voice replied. "How far did I fall?" I asked "I'm not quite sure. You kind of fell from the sky." The villager replied. "Your eyes are closed. You'll want to open them." "Why?" I asked. "Because you're going to need them." The Villager answered. I opened my eyes as advised, and noticed that I had landed on a small island in the middle of lake. Only this was a lake made of lava. Chapter Two: Water I followed closesly behind the villager who had introduced herself as the Protector of Water. What that means I have no idea. But I do know that I had fallen from the sky into the ocean near the Region of Water, and against all odds survived. I also knew that my name is Gali, and I am a Toa. Whatever that means. "The village isn't much farther." The Protector of Water told me. We communicated underwater with our minds. I was told that all sentient lifeforms that are affilliated with the element of Water have that ability, it's just up to them if they want to make the mental connection required to do so. "When we get to this village, what then?" I asked. I still had a lot of questions that needed answering, and hoped that they would be answered soon. "Then you will receive the answers that you seek." The Protector of Water answered. "You will also learn of your mission." "My mission?" I asked. Just another question that was going to be answered I suppose. "You fell to Okoto for a rea-" The Protector of Water was cut off as she stopped swimming. "Is everything alright?" I asked. "There's evil in these waters." The Protector of Water said. "Skull Spiders." "Skull Spiders?" I asked. The Protector of Water pulled me downward into a small crevice in the underwater cliffside. "Evil creatures that knock your mask off and sit in its place. They have the ability to take over your body, and if you're infected by these parasites for long, you lose the will to resist." The Protector of Water said, gesturing to the spider-like creatures swimming above us. "And if that happens, you become a minion of their leader: the Lord of Skull Spiders." We waited down there for minutes that seemed like hours. While the Protector of Water said that this particular breed of Skull Spider is extremely fast, they moved quite sluggishly through the water. Finally, they lost interest in searching for prey and left the area. "Don't worry Gali. Once you learn the art of combat, the Skull Spiders will not be a challenge for you." the Protector of Water said. "Come, the village is not far away." Chapter Three: Earth I reached the village of Earth very quickly. The villager who called himself the Protector of Earth drilled through the rock with ease. I am Onua, and I had fallen from the sky last night. I hit the ground so hard that I crashed through the ground and landed in a cavern deep below the surface. I am apparently on the island of Okoto, and now the Protector of Earth is answering all of the questions that I have. "Legends have been told of you for centuries. These legends have been passed down from father to son for as long as time itself. It was said that whenever we were in peril, the Toa would fall from the heavens and save us from whatever dangers we may be facing." The Protector of Earth said. "These dangers, the Skull Spiders, have existed for centuries. But they have only recently resurfaced, and are causing us great danger. The miners are afraid to go into the darkness, Onua. They fear that they will become a slave to the Lord of Skull Spiders, and stay in their huts as long as they can. They only venture outside when they require food and water. We need your help, we cannot live like this forever." "What do I need to do?" I asked. I had only just met these people, and when I walked into the village, only a few villagers were walking around. Most of them I could only see through holes in their boarded-up windows. I do not believe that they have reason to fear the darkness. I've encountered these Skull Spiders, and they are not much more than vermin. "Take this." The Protector of Earth said as he handed me an old box. "I am not allowed to know what is inside until you have seen it first." I opened the box, and inside was an old scroll. I unrolled it and began reading aloud "In the event of crisis. You, Toa Onua, are to be presented these instructions. They clearly outline what needs to be done to defeat the evils that may have been unleashed." I paused for a moment, attempting to decipher the symbols that were below the much newer writing above. "Keep reading." The Protector of Earth said, clearly interested. "I... can't." I said, distraught. "I feel like I recognize this script, but I do not know what it means." I said, gesturing at the lines of unfamiliar characters. "I can read it." The Protector of Earth said. "When I was chosen to be a Protector, I was required to learn this language. It is an ancient language, and only six villagers, the Protectors, are allowed to know it at a time. It says: the following instructions have been written in the ancient language of the Mask Makers. A secret language known only to the Protectors to prevent these instructions from ever falling into the wrong hands and jeapordizing the safety of the six villages. First you must focus on remembering how to fight. You were taught by the Mask Makers, and may have forgotten after centuries of slumber. Second, you must make the great journey to find the Golden Mask of Power. It is hidden deep within your elemental region. Your Protector was taught a series of clues to help you find it. Third, your Protector is to offer you his tools and armor to use when you combat whatever evils you may face. Fourth and finally, you must unite with the five other Toa and keep Okoto safe." "That sounds difficult." I said. "But I'm up to it." "Good." The Protector of Earth said "Let's begin with step one." Chapter Four: Jungle "Lewa, you must focus!" the Protector of Jungle scolded as he bested me in another round of combat. "If you are to save Okoto, you must not allow yourself to become distracted in combat, it could cost you and your teammates your lives." "I am sorry, Protector." I said as I got back up. "Do not be sorry. Learn from your mistake, and do not let it happen again." The Protector of Jungle said, handing me the axes that were passed down for centuries for when I crashed on Okoto. "Now, let's do it again." And so I ran the various drills with the Protector of Air again, and again, and again. I had been practicing the same combat forms all day, struggling to remember what was claimed I was taught. It all seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had learned it originally. I apparently learned it from some people called the Mask Makers, but I do not know who those are. "Can we take a break?" I asked. "To do what?" The Protector of Air replied "I have a lot of questions on my mind, and I would really like for them to be answered." I said. "Questions are distractions, do not let them cloud your mind." the Protector of Jungle answered. "Focus on the task at hand, and then if you can remember them, you may ask your questions when we are finished." I got in my combat stance again, and I prepared for the next volley of elemental charges to be fired at me. It's going to be a long day... I said to myself. Chapter Five: Ice "I didn't slip." I said as I stood up. I am Kopaka, Toa of Ice, and I must retain my dignity when in the presence of others. In this case, I was searching for my golden Mask of Ice with the Protector of Ice. "Whatever you say, Toa Kopaka." The Protector of Ice said as he walked past me. "How much farther is the temple?" Using my enhanced vision, I scanned through the thick snowstorm that was clouding our vision, searching for the temple of Ice. "There's a mountain up ahead. Towards the base there's a cave. Maybe the temple's in there?" "It's worth a try." The Protector of Ice said. We made it to the mountain and walked inside the cave. Inside was an intricate pattern carved on the floor, and on the wall directly in front of us was a spot that looks like it was supposed to hold a mask. "Are we too late?" The Protector of Ice asked in distress "Could somebody have gotten here before us and stolen the mask before we arrived?" "I don't know." I said. "It was pretty hard for us to find this place, even with my enchanced vision. I don't think that anybody stumbling inside accidently is very likely." "Perhaps we could try to put one of our masks on?" The Protector of Ice suggested. "I'll try first. We'll need your vision to guide us if a mask is the key." The Protector of Ice removed his mask from his face and placed in the wall, but nothing happened. So I tried, and then a doorway opened to our left. "Looks like we'll have to be ready for anything." I said, turning to the new opening. "Descend the 777 stairs if you wish to find power beyond comprehension." The Portector of Ice read aloud. "Sounds like us." I said as I started to descend the stairs. "Hey Kopaka." The Protector of Ice said "Don't slip." The doorway closed behind us and we descended the stairs for what felt like hours. Every now and then we'd find small trinkets that we assumed the Mask Makers had left for us, and as we got deeper, the stairs got colder, and eventually they were coated completely in ice. When we reached the bottom, there was a place to light a brazier. The Protector of Ice took a heatstone and a lightstone out of his bag and truck them together, creating a spark that ignited it, which eventually set off a chain reaction that lit up the whole room. It was magnificent, ancient statues stood at attention, guarding a large doorway that we could only assume had the Mask of Ice behind it. The walls were covered in ancient writings, mostly poems and histories. But while we were reading, the Protector of Ice noticed something interesting. "Past the doors is darkness, no light to be found. Only those with noble intentions will be allowed." He read. "What could that mean?" "It sounds like a warning." I said. "But hey, I think our intentions are noble enough." So we walked around the room for a while and examined the script all over the walls. Eventually we made our way to the doors. They were unlocked, so opening them was easy. But like the warning said, there was no light. "I'll go and grab a torch." The Protector of Ice said sd he walked back to the brazier. "Bring one for me!" I called. "If only I had my mask, we could get in easy." When the Protector of Ice returned, we enterred the room. Even though our torches were bright, we could only see a few feet in front of us at a time. We walked straight, making sure that the entrance was behind us. When we reached the end of the room, we found a lever. "Let's see what this does." I said as I moved it down. Ancient technology illuminated the room. There was armor, weapons, and another door. Only this one was open. "Could someone have been down here already?" The Protector of Ice asked. "Let's find out I said, enterring the door." The next room was equally as bright as the previous one, and the Mask of Ice was safely inside. But there were no lights illuminating the room, the floor was giving off a strange glow. "That's cool." I said as I walked over to the mask. I picked it up and put it on my face. "Now. How do we get out of here?" "It looks like there's a hallway over here." The Protector of Ice said as he walked over to it. He let out a scream of terror when he arrived to the mouth of the tunnel. "What is it?" I asked, worried. "This was the previous Protector." The Protector of Ice said. "He told me that he was growing old, and was going to the drifts to spend his final days." When I arrived, I found why the Protector of Ice sounded mortified. The Protector that he was talking about was frozen into a statue of ice. "This looks like his journal." The Protector of Ice said as he picked up an old book. "I can't believe it. He wasn't going to let himself die, he came all the way out here hoping that the Mask of Ice would grant him immortality and power beyond comprehension. He also writes that he was going to torcher the other Protectors to find the locations of the other temples and steal the other masks as well." "Wow." I said "He really thought that he could accomplish that by himself?" "It looks like it." The Protector of Ice said. "Let's get out of here." Chapter Six: Stone To be released by 3/20/15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This fanfic is mainly a few experiments for writing in the first-person writing and storytelling. I'm really liking how it's coming along, and I have every intention to finish it. Once the first six chapters are done, I'll begin working on the next part of the story, which will go on to tell how the Toa found their elemental masks and became the Masters of their respective elements, and ultimately defeat the Lord of Skull Spiders. I'm writing this to be similar to the canon storyline, but with my own take on it. I hope that you've enjoyed reading what I've got so far, and I encourage you to leave advice and criticism. It really means a lot to me, and overall it improves the way I write.

The previous post has been extended. Enjoy.

ProfessorBrickkeeper, I can certainly upload MIDI. I'll try to get around to it later tonight, when I have some time. I'll eventually be using (hopefully) the Reason Orkester Soundbank to make the final product, but that's a long way down the road, as I want to get to all of the transcriptions first. So if you want high quality music sooner rather than later, it's probably a better idea to do it yourself, as you said. EDIT: Here are the download links for the Midi files. They may be a bit messy, especially with the velocity, since Sibelius seems to respond differently to velocity. Also note that I changed the octave of certain lines so that notes wouldn't overlap. It's probably also all in one layer currently. Let me know if you notice any mistakes; I'm sure I missed some things or got a note wrong here and there, and it would be great to have input so I can make these as accurate as possible. http://oresome.rockraidersunited.com/download/236 http://oresome.rockraidersunited.com/download/237 http://oresome.rockraidersunited.com/download/238 http://oresome.rockraidersunited.com/download/239 http://oresome.rockraidersunited.com/download/240 Have fun!

I thought stalking Alcom would bring me great victory. Apparently somebody felt it was necessary to cheat.

Yikes, that was a pretty brutal way to kill me Prof.

Thanks for having specified. I always had the doubt wether I could resurrect in case I got that illness.

Players: someswedish, noghiri, Ben24x7 "The Jamesster Games" "A Fictional Invention that would be cool in real-life" "Terrible Super Powers" *Noghiri came in around this point "Hanging About" "Rock Raiders celebrate Red Nose Day" "RRU Dog Invasion" "RRU members among the Romans" "You're a wizard, Harry"

White card(s): "borrowing" shield generators the Infoderpiac Yeah, I can't think of anything else right now.

Hoooly orchestra Batman, that's much larger than my list! I could just post the albums I own here, it wouldn't take long. There are also the odd singles I have lying around too, but I listen to a lot through Spotify and YouTube which I intend to purchase at some point. I do however have a rockin' aunt who has over 60,000 songs in her library...

RRU Members?

Let's do it Arthuriel, we can totally win! I've only seen parts of the Hunger Games films, not my kind of thing, but still cool idea. Shouldn't it be Cyrem Grapheme leading the games though?

Just thought i'd pop on and share my current LEGO collection since everyone else is doing so. That bag behind the Hobbit hole set is a Y-wing, then I also have a special edition Rocket minifig from Toys R US, a gold minifig keychain, a chewbaca keychain and an Indiana Jone keychain. And the tub that says LEGO is full of minifigures. I also have 3 sizes of the Slave 1 And here are some more sets. The Ghostbuster set, the Exo-Suit, the VW van, Falling water, and a Minecraft The End set. I'll have to post the rest when I get to my parents house, as most of it is still there. I'll also give closeups of my minifig collection in the second part.

Thomas Warming (illustrator for the Time Cruisers boardgame) sent me some things recently. Among them are some sketches for some of the boardgame cards, and some conceptual drawings of a LEGO restaurant he designed. Time Cruisers boardgame card sketches: LEGO Palace Restaurant: "I also did a lot of concept development for lego in the 1990's for Lego Futura. All the work I did for lego was through a danish advertising agency called Courage except for the concept work, which was direct. I also did concept design but that was done in a lego-look meaning cars and stuff but they wanted me to draw it so it looked like real cars and not lego - that way they could focus on elements they liked and try to convert that into the lego-look so all that stuff is not really lego work unless you know. Sadly back in the day all original material was owned by the agency or Lego and not the artist."-Thomas Warming

For your reading pleasure: Full Brickshelf gallery is here, when public. Fushi, it'd be awesome if you could add these to your album for easier viewing. It probably goes without saying, but I'll be editing together English versions of the other 1996 comics once Sadie is able to procure them. And while I'm thinking of it, any chance we could get this topic renamed to something more appropriate? We've got a lot more going on now than just a German Rock Raiders comic.