1304 Lego Dream Terrain

wuhjah

Prince
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Feb 29, 2012
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Welcome to the Lego Dream Terrain.


What is Lego Dream Terrain?

With the unwitting help from some of our resident civvers, I am going to try to answer just that question. To do all this, we are going to take a look at a few dreams and try to find exactly what effect Lego has had on them, and whether the prognosis is good. If we open our minds enough, perhaps we'll be able to see exactly where unreality has become reality.

This analysis is actually a compilation of five different dreams, some longer and some shorter. Each, though, is worth a closer inspection as we delve deeper to the root of the condition.










Now that we're all settled, we can begin.

 
Our first dream is that of legendary bard, Puppeteer, whose original story can be found here. We follow him along his quest to conquer the world, but only to find it empty. He nevertheless builds huge armies to keep him company as the empire grows. One day, they find they are actually not alone. They happen across a solitary barbarian living in the forests. And then they kill him. During the chase though, we get a chance to see this metaphorical wall of mountains that is standing in Puppeteer's way, something he has mentioned in his dream logs. Interesting dream considering Puppeteer is one of our higher functioning patients.

Spoiler :










Our next dream, around here, has usually just been called "Operation Sundown Surprise." It comes from one of our veterans. They don't sleep much, so we can only get a quick glimpse. I don't know how it ends, but I've seen the beginning many times. What does this sequence of pictures reveal about the subconscious?

Spoiler :





 
We'll next visit one of our longer dreams named, "Bowsling et al. hits the land down under below the belt." The original story can be found here. Things do get a little dicey in the middle of this dream, but it has a happy ending.

Apparently, someone on the roster sleeps with the lights on. An uncommonly known fact is, light has a reverse effect on dreams making them actually dimmer, as is clearly demonstrated in these images.

Spoiler :



















 
In order for us to get a complete analysis, we need something a little darker. This nightmare, originally found here, is a bloodbath; and believe me, the blood runneth from the get-go. It should be called, "A tutorial on how to make the world your Hoema," but really it's called, "A tutorial on how to make the world your Hoema," by Greebly et al. Follow along as they bully their way to domination crushing everything in their path, like a proverbial swarm of locusts.

Spoiler :



















 
Finally, we take a look at one last dream from one of our other patients. This one is a recurring dream and he's been having it for about as long as we've had him here. Due to its nature, we've just taken to calling this one, "Hollywood Souffle." Can you imagine some of these horrible creatures coming to visit you every night? He'll certainly have to be kept a little longer for further observation.

Super Spoiler if you are reading my current story.
Spoiler :






















 
The story:
This terrain actually got started last year alongside the 1212 Color Terrain, but got back burnered because I was focused on my water and looking to make a set with a realistic look and feel. I always wanted a niche set, that I could match up with the Cinemod, that I could just have a little more fun with. As others before me have stated, I wanted it to be more like a toy/game.

I think I failed a little as it still leans (just) a little toward realism. So, this can basically be a first version. I think another version may have to be even more toyish.

Considering this terrain had no blending, it was much easier to make than my other set. Considering that, I am much more open to the idea of color changes of terrain or overlays. I am completely open to suggestions for lx terrain colors and/or styles. Lx files are not included at this time. Lastly, on the changes/suggestions topic, I don't mind suggestions, and am willing to make/completely alter a set to suit a consensus, if there is a demand, but you have to be fair to the hours put in, and download and actually start a game with the terrain, and not make your final opinion/suggestion based off of screen shots.


What does this set include?

It is a terrain set only.
At this time this set does not include: Cities, Goody huts, Terrain Buildings, Resources, etc. I thought the best choice would be left up to the user, at least for now. Someday, I may look into making a custom set, but now I'm satisfied using either Firaxis work or that from other great artists here on the website. If you do not manually add your own files to the art folder, the default Firaxis files will be used.


There are three actual civ files in the set that were not made by me.

Credits to:
Pounder - roads
Pounder - railroads
Unknown - territory border *if this was made by you or someone you know, please help me credit the original creator.

Another file (jpg) is included, which is what I used to base the whole set.

See full credits in spoiler:
Spoiler :

Lego Dream Terrain Set
by Wuhjah

Usual credits to Sid Meyer and Firaxis. Credit to the Lego brand name.
Some files, such as mines, are not included in this set and your default Firaxis files will be used. Goody huts and Cities are also not included.


In this set:

With the exception of four files, every other file was made or modified by me. That is to the best of my knowledge. (The rivers are anybody's guess, but I'm presuming these are Firaxis Originals. If they aren't, feel free to correct me.)



The four files are:

Territory file - Unknown author - If you know the creator of this, I would like to put his/her name here.

Roads - Pounder
Railroads - Pounder

A photo called "Base" - Stacy David Wallingford
*This is a piece of a photo he shared online, which basically started this whole project.
You can find the original work here:
http://www.sdwhaven.com/free-resources/grunge-lego-textures/


Programs used include:

Editing:
Paint.net
Paint shop Pro
Tileset pal

Modeling/Rendering:
MLCad
LDView
POVRay


Thanks to all these people and programs for their unknowing contributions to this terrain set. Thanks once more to those who went before me paving the way, and thanks again to RickFGS as I think he can still be said to be the catalyst that started me working on terrain files.


There are a few additional files in the set. Although I think this set looks better without a few things like mountain forests, a mountain forest file with trees has been included.


Kyriakos cities and goody huts can be seen in my games, but (again) are not included in this set.


The stories above were all borrowed from their respective threads with the best of intentions (permission not asked - not granted - hope they don't mind.) Credits to them and Puppeteer for the sav files I used to make most of the screen shots.




Some final notes:
One of the biggest problems with modding is not having the time to play, and to play others' mods/scenarios. Playing the saves (just a little) from other games was interesting and I looked back at some old scenarios and content that come with Conquests. Those also sparked a little new interest. I think I need to take some time and just play for a while (but I always say that...)
 
There is a biq included with the terrain that uses standard Conquest rules. Or you can transfer the terrain files to any other set.

Unzip the rar into your Any Drive:\CIVIII\Conquests\Scenarios folder.
You may play the standard game directly through the civ content on the main menu.

Unless your current religious practices prohibit you from doing so,
download the Lego Dream here.:D
 
I guess someone has to start making Lego units now?

Awesome work Wuhjah, even if I do not have any use for it. :)
 
Thank you, everyone, for the comments. It's great the set can get such a warm reception. I hope it can bring a little new enjoyment to the game.

I like it a lot.
It's always nice to hear. Thanks.

If only there was a way to lego-ise existing units, cities etc.
That may not be possible, but the (free) tools I listed in the credits certainly could get it done - that is building new ones. I'd imagine it would be a lot of brick by brick work, though. While all that's fun to think about, I am completely satisfied with what is already available.


It's not perfect, I'm sure, so if you see any problems or have issues to discuss, feel free. (I know a few of you are cringing at the snow mountains and were just biting your tongue... :lol:)
 
I think I failed a little as it still leans (just) a little toward realism. So, this can basically be a first version. I think another version may have to be even more toyish.

Considering this terrain had no blending, it was much easier to make than my other set. Considering that, I am much more open to the idea of color changes of terrain or overlays. I am completely open to suggestions for lx terrain colors and/or styles.
A couple of ways to get it more toy-like.

One would be to pixellate & brighten the terrain before applying the Lego look. It would then look something more like modern digitized camouflage than like a painted texture. GIMP has a blur/pixelize filter. This method would leave the result looking close enough to the current set to allow for reasonable compatibility with existing cities, etc.




A more extreme method would be to use some of the other patterns/textures made by the same artist you linked to as the base & add the lego look to them. Something like this:

 
...before applying the Lego look.

Interesting, because I did it the opposite. It was lego + color and then pattern.
I'm going to make my own template of studs with brick lines and then try it your way. That should allow for more variation in the end.

The pattern you showed is heading somewhere toward the right idea, I think, because when I say more toy-like, I guess I mean more plastic-like.

That should all be for another version, though. The lx files can stay the same style, just alternative colors or patterns.
 
Interesting, because I did it the opposite. It was lego + color and then pattern.
I'm going to make my own template of studs with brick lines and then try it your way.
That example was obviously done quickly just to show the concept. The image was made by using one of the provided lego textures as a bump map applied to the pattern graphic. That effect will give the impression of plastic that has been molded into the lego bricks.
 
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