Brick Musings: Dec. 7

Just like to shout out to one of my fav extensions, Lazarus ( https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lazarus-form-recovery/loljledaigphbcpfhfmgopdkppkifgno?hl=en )
If you are on fruit phone then I don’t know what to tell you, add in the comments if you know. This is an extension that remembers what you type in a form field ( like a blog entry!  new phone who dis? )

Ok, so Lego.

In the store this week we put together a couple of UCS sets and frankly I’m a bit riled. The AT-ST uses a mofo elastic to maintain structural integrity. Would this be even permissible in LDD? Seems a bit beyond the stresses the elements doctrine, and kind of squeegy on a moc level. I really grok elastics and tires used as decorative elements, but hidden like this makes me a bit queasy:  

http://lego.brickinstructions.com/lego_instructions/set/10174/imperial_at-st

That said the Lego Death Star II is such a hot mess that it does not even make sense.

http://lego.brickinstructions.com/en/lego_instructions/set/10143/Death_Star_II

After painful hours of descending into gollum’nish type likenesses we found actual errors in the instructions where it showed jumper plates but next step was impossible.

As bad as StarWars sets are, I defy you to exemplify a more inane set as the paramount of all things wrong

inb4 you say https://shop.lego.com/en-CA/Jedi-Starfighter-With-Hyperdrive-75191 which is the free bingo square of all things bad in SW sets

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So hey gang! Besides bad StarWars sets, there’s always fun stuff right.

What’s UP with this AR LEGO game!!??

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyrobertson/2017/12/01/new-lego-augmented-reality-app-is-the-best-open-world-lego-video-game

I’ll drop this Forbes link as I haven’t come across any that spill any more beans as any yet. I caught wind of this a bit ago but wasn’t quite able to say anything yet, since MSM is on this then guess I can chit chat as well.

My first and bit big beef is wth LEGO, why only fruit phone??! It’s bad enough I’m considering getting a PS4 for MA2  (  just not getting a WU for City despite how awesome it is ) you will NOT tip me to the dark side to get a fruity platfrom to imbibe in whatever malarkey you are up to. Get on the boat and get your TT titles available on every next gen platform already.

Ok, I feel shluffed. That is what is being bothering me, like really, jeesh.

Now, let’s talk about this Lego AR that is going down.

It allegedly has gold brick conductibility.  As someone who is in *deep* with Ingress ( about to hit 2.0 after 5 yrs!?!)  and dabbled with Pogo, I can envision what is going on here. Since the spawn points have nothing to do with Google Maps, it is not tied into the Google Maps network ( Ingress/Pogo ) so spawn points of bricks could be user generated as opposed to user submitted like in Ingress/Pogo. That means you create the instances as you play instead of running into them as the game decrees.
In a glorious world this is ideal, but did I mention that it’s a fruit phone sitch currently?

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Lego is big like Russia, something happening every day. You know I love the brick and also the community. I will keep the pulse on the weird beast as I know it.

Play well my friends, play well.

Ingress

Couple of players hacking a bench

That is the one word answer as to why I’ve been neglecting my Lego hobby. I’ve kept up maintenance on a local front, been active with my Lug but really have let a lot of other stuff slide. I’m about 6 months into playing and think that I’ve hit a good pace, and with our show season kicked into gear I’m back into the bricks too.

Since LU closed I really have not been playing many games. The occasional TT game, started Aquaria again on my tablet, Star Command, but really nothing has come close to capturing my attention. Until this game. For those who don’t know about it, Ingress is an augmented reality game that uses google maps as it’s backbone, in fact it’s a pet project by Google. It’s essentially capture the flag with an X-files backstory twist. If you are familiar with geocaching or other gps augmented reality games then this will make a lot more sense. If not, imagine a game where it exists wherever you go… outside. There’s very little you can do in the game from your home, all of the game happens on location.

I’ve always been fond of the great outdoors, and quite fond of my city, it was not hard to immerse myself in this game. I’m not so sure I can recommend this game to anyone though as this game’s particular’s experience is hinged on your location, which includes the amount of people playing in the area and most importantly… the kind of people! You don’t know when you start necessarily how many people are on either side, let alone what kind of people they are. I’ve been pretty lucky where I am, felt I picked the right side ( blue or green ) and the people playing locally are mostly great on both sides.

What I found was a sense of exploration ( often a bit subversively ), building mammoth constructs, smashing up a storm, espionage and a pretty amazing community. Sound at all familiar? If you loved LU, have an Android or iPhone, you might want to check this out.

I’m getting back to regularly scheduled posts this week, but wanted to let y’all know where I’ve been. If you have any questions about his game let me know!

 

http://www.ingress.com