The Papercraft direction, though still a direction I like in concept, has some practical problems. Durability is a concern. And frankly, just coming up with viable hex designs has been a long and arduous process; let alone actually unfolding the 3D models into flat templates, then skinning them appropriately, then printing and building them. The most appealing aspect of the papercraft board concept is the price; it would be very economical to create.
However, today, I discovered something really cool that has me thinking of creating the board in a totally different way. I can sum up the concept in one word... LEGO! Behold this LEGO Settlers of Catan board:
How cool is that?! the 'hex tiles' are actually round in this case, being built on 6x6 round plates. More photos can be found at Michael Thomas' (the creator of this here LEGO SoC board) flickr stream.
Just from the photos, it's fairly easy to figure out how it's built and the pieces required.
Although it's a significantly more expensive board option than the papercraft, it would be significantly easier to build and also be much more durable. The biggest challenge in creating this kind of board would be purchasing all the required pieces; but bricklink.com and various other online resources would be very helpful there.
So, this have now become my new direction on this project; and heck, I may even decide to redesign the cards for a LEGO-centric theme. But that's a decision I'll save for later.
No comments:
Post a Comment