Book II - Kaliphlin: Guild sign-up and Discussion

[Yzalirk]

If I'm not busy later today, I'll be placing the orders for my parts and pieces but my budget is about $300 and I'll be spending nearly $90 at places like BrickWarriors, BrickForge, G.I. Brick, and Saber-Scorpion together. Is that bad so far? The rest of the money will be going to a minfig parts and accessories so about around maybe $70 - $90 so I'll probably have about $120 to spend n Bricks so it's not that good. I'll only be buying bricks I know for a fact I'll reuse a lot. So the bulks of them aren't going to be as much as I'd like but they won't be horrible if I build medium-sized MOCs. I may go back and not buy certain things I'd like to though since I'll be buying parts for GoH MOCs, my own Post-Apoc series, and a Fallout series of MOCs.

[robuko]

@behemoth, it's really up to you how you allocate your budget. In my opinion the mix seems unbalanced between minifigs, accessories, and bricks. It is rare for the minifig elements to be more than half the value of a Lego set. Having 13 uruk chai will not especially distinguish your set up, as many on the forum will have a lot of LoTR figs. Some people really appreciate the custom minifig effort but honestly most of the comments I see here are about build or photography, not so much about minifigs. Still, it's up to you so just do what feels right and have fun!

[Yzalirk]

@robuko - I understand where you're coming at but like I said, I won't be getting things just for GoH and all these other stores seem cheap but once you add up the prices with how much things you get, it's expensive. BrickWarriors and G.I. Bricks seem to be where I'll be spending most money on custom things because I'll need to arms my soldiers (So in BrickWarriors, that's around 13 Armor and 13 weapons) and for G.I. Bricks, that's where I'll be getting guns for my Post-Apoc and Fallout MOCs. As for Saber-Scorpion, that's where I'll be getting decals for the Fallout MOCs. I'll try to spend the least amount of money on minifig parts, (like hair, legs, torsos, heads, arms, and accessories). As for bricks and things, I'll be getting a lot of 2x1 light gray bricks as ell as the 1x1 bricks with the stud on the side and 2x1 tiles. I'll see what I can budget wise though for minifig parts. It seems like the seller I'll be getting from sells fleshy heads for about $2 each which can get expensive if I buy a lot of heads so I'll look around for sellers that mostly sell minifig parts for a bit cheaper if I can.

[Hobbythom]

Thanks Gideon, I think my build will match the de Gothia's style nicely! Hope to post my part of the town soon!

[Thomas of Tortuga]

Well, I'm not dead yet. A mount-up critter, for your viewing pleasure: Mount Up! Lesser Guylinea Dragon

[Maxim I]

Well, I'm not dead yet. A mount-up critter, for your viewing pleasure: Mount Up! Lesser Guylinea Dragon

Nice mount Thomas!

Aah daaammn, I am near completing my 180x70 studs West Stedor and I am facing empty boxes which were once full of bricks

[Gunman]

Nice mount Thomas!

Aah daaammn, I am near completing my 180x70 studs West Stedor and I am facing empty boxes which were once full of bricks

Sorting bricks back gonna be BoooOoooring :)

[gedren_y]

I haven't had good weather for photography, but hopefully I will get some good pics of the Nestlands Trading Post in Mpya Stedor tomorrow. I got one shot of the back under bad lighting.

The Aslanic Order soldiers have commissioned three signs.

[Mike S]

I haven't had good weather for photography, but hopefully I will get some good pics of the Nestlands Trading Post in Mpya Stedor tomorrow. I got one shot of the back under bad lighting.

The Aslanic Order soldiers have commissioned three signs.

Cool! The building materials for the Aslanic Temple are being brought to the site in Mpya Stedor.

[Maxim I]

I haven't had good weather for photography, but hopefully I will get some good pics of the Nestlands Trading Post in Mpya Stedor tomorrow. I got one shot of the back under bad lighting.

The Aslanic Order soldiers have commissioned three signs.

Cool! The building materials for the Aslanic Temple are being brought to the site in Mpya Stedor.

Busy days in my city :D me gusta :D

one 32x48 base to go and some minor changes and I am done with West Stedor :)

Edited August 27, 2014 by Maxim I

[gedren_y]

DM, I should have my photos edited and up tonight. Then you can add the Nestlands Trading Post to your Mpya Stedor thread. The build, not counting overhang, is 22x24. I have a backstory for the building that will explain the mild deviation from the normal Mpya Stedor architecture. Also, the lady in the scene is the Lego Movie's Wild West Wildstyle. I haven't yet decided on a name for the lady, but Squire Greisun will be courting her.

[Yzalirk]

You guys use GIMP to edit your pictures, right? I have no idea how to use it since I'm so used to using Paint.NET.

[Gideon]

You guys use GIMP to edit your pictures, right? I have no idea how to use it since I'm so used to using Paint.NET.

GIMP is free and powerful, but not very user-friendly. I don't know what paint.net can do but if it can do the basic editing you need for a clean presentation of the build then by all means continue to use what you are used to, there's no need to switch unless it is for new functions

Edited August 27, 2014 by Gideon

[Maxim I]

You guys use GIMP to edit your pictures, right? I have no idea how to use it since I'm so used to using Paint.NET.

I love paint!!! But I have to admit, once you are getting used to GIMP, it is easier...

[Yzalirk]

I've been using Paint.NET for nearly 5 years now and it's easy to use and I can try to clean up pictures with it. It can sharpen pictures and such too.

[Kayne]

I prefer Photoshop, since creative suite 2 became freeware a couple of years ago

[Rolli]

I prefer Photoshop, since creative suite 2 became freeware a couple of years ago

Yeah, Photoshop is obviously the best of the bunch. I have been using it for the past ten years and it gets better every year. Gimp is the best open source option in my opinion and paint.net isn't bad either. Haven't used it in years though but the first versions were already quite powerful if I remember correctly.

Give Photoshop a try, it is really really powerful. Maybe they make newer versions free in the future, too. You can do a lot with CS2 already though. Also it became quite cheap in the last year, you can get the newest version for 10€ / 10$ per month should you consider serious usage that justifies paying for it.

If you have any questions I guess there are quite a few other members that are very knowledgable but if I can be of service, feel free to message me!

[gedren_y]

Nestlands Trading Post in Mpya Stedor is up. Check it out.

[Yzalirk]

I would use Photoshop but I just don't want to pay the monthly fee for a picture editing program I'm not going to use every day.

[Maxim I]

You also can use the Flickr Editor:

edit: the letters under "By Maxim I" are my fault :D

Edited August 28, 2014 by Maxim I

[Yzalirk]

That's an awesome picture!

[TheUtilityBelt]

It is indeed

[Yzalirk]

I have this amazing concept that I think you guys will love, but seriously though, I'd like some honest opinions.

So, I've finally decided that I may be going with Orcs after or, or some sort of race similar to Orcs. Anyways, not the point for this idea I've thought of. My guys are a large faction, almost like an empire, that strive for types technology that improves their combat abilities through magic and storing electricity in created gadgets to power up these types of technology. They also produce some higher-tech weapons that is very difficult to make and is very expensive to fund. They are also "Soldiers of Fortune" due to their elite combat effectiveness so if the price is right, they'll side with the highest bidder. Their architecture, I am hoping for, seems like very early industrial on how it's (very) dirty and how much pollution gets created. So at the same time, they're good but bad. They are very skilled metal workers too and self-sustainable by themselves. They do, however, buy from other merchants throughout Kaliphlin. These materials are meat, metal, wood, and weapons. Although they make lots of weapons for their troops, they smelt down swords and shields and breakdowns bows and crossbows for parts for their "technological" advancements. Their leadership consists of a high Council which includes myself (new sig-fig will most likely be named Vem Tabook), important people of the society (So the wealthy and most skilled), and other Kaliphlin lords. However, they are arrogance and hatred seems to lean more towards the Dwarves for their passion for mining and taking precious metals and minerals, they seem to do little trade with them. They also don't really like humans and elves due to their "bloody" past (I will create and unique story about that later on) but most of them want to make treaties with them. Some humans and elves feel the same way too.

When people afflict with their affairs, like destroying their constructs, technology, mines, and just about anything else a part from killing mass numbers of these people, they send in their most elite soldiers, The Grustrag Three. They are hired to kill those who meddle with this empire. If the person who is instructed to be assassinated and is a high lord or important person to the Historica society, they leave them scarred and begging to be put down. Very little is known about them to outsiders other than that they are part of my society and were experimented on, tested for the advancements to the rest of the military. They are gruesome fighters, they will even kill other members of the society if they thirst for bloodshed. Some people also think they were genetically engineered somehow but no one knows, except of members in the High Council that belong to this society. Considering these are important people to my empire, they can't be killed if defeated, they will retreat if almost about to die (I will elaborate on this more in the future as to why they can't die). They also have names but that will also be revealed in the future too.

So tell me, what do you guys think? It took quite a while to come up with these ideas and concepts so I really hope I can use them. And when I say they create technology that is quite advanced, don't think I'm talking about guns, missiles, and nothing like that.

[Maxim I]

I have this amazing concept that I think you guys will love, but seriously though, I'd like some honest opinions.

...

I like the idea. But as said many times before, stop thinking and start building :)

Coming soon: West Stedor!

[Yzalirk]

I like the idea. But as said many times before, stop thinking and start building :)

I still need to place my orders but I've been quite busy for the past few days that I haven't gotten to it. I might not be very busy today, it depends, so hopefully I'll be able to start my orders. I also need to spend my money wisely because all the accessories are expensive that I'm getting. I also need the okay to use my concept first, so is it okay? (Asking everyone here)