Topic: Real Life vs. Game Life

[Scyphi]

It's been pretty hot and dry here in Idaho as well (obviously not as hot as it would be in Florida, but still hot). There was awhile where we had a long streak of rain, though, which was nice, because then things stayed nice and cool and moist. I really liked it. Wish that would happen again.

Oh well, at least it's not snowing. Had that happen before.

[NUMBERZero]

heh, you should see the long streaks of rain when a hurricane comes! 

[-<WillyP>-]

On topic: In Florida, where I live, they don't seem to have very many outdoors stuff to do except fishing, and that's just about it.

What, no alligator wrestling? 

But seriously, what about

hovercraft racing?

That's gotta be the BALZ!

[Scyphi]

Hah, I'd try that, it looks like fun.

[TechPro]

Which?  The alligator wrestling or the hovercraft racing?










I'd vote for the alligator wrestling.  Fun challenge with death on the line! 

[D2Disciple]

Here's my concept of danger, at least in AL: Oak Mountain's infamous "Blood Rock" section of mountain biking trail. It's quite a bit tougher than it looks on-screen: it's about a 35 degree decline over little else but boulders and large tree roots. At the bottom lies about an 11 inch drop from a rather oddly-shaped rock. You take it wrong and you end up like

this guy.

 

[PyroJockey]

Real life vs. game life? Why do they have to be conflicting?

I have been off the forums since the bash working on a project that blurs the line between the two. First of all, some of my pastimes beside playing video games include 3D design and building scale models.

My latest project has been to take the radio from the video game Portal out of game life and into real life for my kids to take to Otakon.

The first step was to get some real clear screen cap’s of all the orthogonal views of the radio.

Front:


Top:


Right:


Left:


Back:


Bottom:


Isometric:


Then I created a true to scale 3D model. The software I use is SolidWorks:



Once the model is created I create a detailed set of drawings from which the parts can be fabricated:



Then the real fun starts, taking the project from the intangible to the tangible.

Laminating the foam core:


Shaping the core (I kept a spare):


Laying fiberglass for the shell:


Wiring the electronics (internal MP3 player loops the music from the game):


The unveiling at Otakon 2009 on 7/17/09 (making a note here, huge success)


So there doesn’t have to be a conflict between game life and real life. I like to blur the two.

Note: I have often considered making a Pyro, perhaps next year 

[-<WillyP>-]

lol... that's fabulous, and I didn't even like the game!

We've been working on a project constructed in a similar way, except instead of foam it's made of 1.5 inch thick plywood. This particular piece is a desk. We've been banging away at this job for nearly a year, another 6 months to go. The walls, ceiling, furniture, even the computer cases all grow out of the flooring. Amazing!

[NUMBERZero]

You don't even like the game??!!  C'mon now, just because it lacks any real means to fight back against the turrets and it lacks 6DoF capabilities doesn't mean it's bad.

Pyro! That looks amazing! Do you ever wear that lab coat to work? I know I would.

[-<WillyP>-]

No, that's not why I don't like it, although now that you mention it that would help  . It's mostly the lack of game play and a dumb story line. I like to go into a game, travel through levels, and say "wow... what could be next?" instead of "wow... I have to do this basically same crap... AGAIN?" Sorry, not even for the promise of cake would I endure that again! The original portal at least had a cute monkey friend!    I never finished it, even my kids got bored after a few dozen levels... I heard the cake was a lie, anyway. 

(No offense to anyone who is a fan of the game, of course, different strokes, ya' know!    )

[PyroJockey]

WillyP,

Wow, that’s a hell of a lot of plywood! It looks awesome though, very organic. I’m still trying to figure out what it is. Form and function?  Might I ask how it was modeled? Also, are you cutting the sections by hand are do you have access to a CNC router? Either way it’s a lot of work, 1 ½ years.

As for Portal, good game play, too short, needs variety. You do have to admit that the AI GlaDOS was a hoot, Like HAL with PMS.

NUMBERZero,

No I don’t get to wear the lab coat. 
That’s my daughter’s boyfriend in the pic’ holding the radio. The two of them went as Aperture lab technicians with matching his and hers lab coats.

Due to an illness in the family I was unable to attend Otakon this year.

Last year we went as the (Speed) Racer family (I was Pop’s).

For that I made a helmet to match the one Speed wore in the original Anime series. (It wasn’t called anime back then. The term hadn’t been coined yet.  )

We had the helmet signed by Peter Fernandez, who wrote all the English language scripts and did most of the voice acting for the series.


We are already working on plans for next year, still working on a concept.

Some of the other projects I have on the back burner:

A full scale replica of the type-15 shuttlepod from Star Trek The Next Generation.

It’s still in the design stage, I have been working on this on and off for about 20 years. It’s the smallest of the shuttles, the cheapest to build and I believe has the most on screen time of any of the shuttles. I still need to work out some of the structure and interior details.

The Deep Sleep pistol used by the Sandmen in the 1976 film Logan’s Run.

 I find this project interesting because the pistol was more than a mere prop, it produced an actual physical effect. The back of the pistol is charged with water and calcium carbide which produces acetylene gas. Depressing the trigger passes the gas over a hot glow plug in the muzzle of the gun igniting it into a burst of flame.

I’m almost out of the design phase and I’m looking for material sources. I still need to rework the gas valve, the originals were from a butane lighter, were known to leak and are no longer manufactured.

And as stated the Pyro GX is in there somewhere. 
I'm woking on accessing a Stereolithography (STL) machine that can produce plastic Pyro models directly from my files.

EDIT:

P.S. I did consider doing the weighted companion cube, but too many people do the cube, they just don't do it well.
This is a full rendering of my cube model.

The design is slightly modified to make use of commercially available sizes of foam and to fit through a standard door.

[-<WillyP>-]

The plywood was cut with a cnc router. I'm not on the main crew that did this job, but I have put a ton of hours. We use auto cad normally, but I couldn't say what was used for this projects. There is a flat desk that goes inside that curved piece. Here is some flooring sections, the ramp-like end become a bench seat. And another view of the desk.

[PyroJockey]

I would love to see a pic' of this when finished. I assume this will have a clear finish to show all that woodgrain?

[SaladBadger]

Heh, pyro I remember you mentioning a lot of your projects on IRC one time -- It's cool to actually be able to see them!

[-<WillyP>-]

Yes, it gets a clear poly.