Topics

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Clan Discussion / [BLBC] Blockland Builder's Club

« on: November 05, 2009, 12:03:50 PM »

We're back, and we have a server. We're not recruiting right now, but we are willing to invite members that build well on our server. I'll add more to this post later, so for now you can get a general idea about us from our old thread (too old to bump): http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=4742.0

Our current active members are:

• Mocheeze - Club Chairman (Chairman Mo)
• Barnabas - First Minister of Chicken Paprikash

Membership isn't required for you to build with us. Our servers will normally have space for everyone to build, though there areas for different levels of builders enforced for quality reasons. We want to encourage advanced building techniques, and as part of that we may clear old builds or builds that don't meet quality standards.

We're looking to once again being a positive force toward better builds in Blockland.

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General Discussion / Best mouse for Blockland?

« on: October 28, 2009, 04:43:18 PM »

http://www.amazon.com/Adesso-AKP-170-Keypad-integrated-transparent/dp/B00139TVPW/



Built in num pad! Anyone else have good suggestions or tricks they use?

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Off Topic / Does anyone else still type blockland.us/smf in to the address bar?

« on: September 15, 2009, 12:55:41 PM »

It's so ingrained in me for the last 4-5 years, I can't break the habit yet.

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General Discussion / Link your BL ID# to your RTB profile!

« on: November 14, 2007, 06:59:20 AM »

Today we're giving everyone the ability to link their BL ID numbers to their username and profile on the RTB forums. There are advantages to linking your BL ID to your RTB profile. For instance, we will probably be making it a requirement for new topic posters to have valid BL ID links in some (probably most) forum sections on our site. It will also be used heavily in RTB 2.0 for many cool features.

Our system automatically checks to make sure you really do own the BL ID that you are attempting to link. This prevents anyone from being an impostor.

It's very simple to link your ID:

To Authenticate:
  1. Open Blockland and allow it to Authenticate Normally.
  2. Close Blockland.
  3. Enter your Blockland Name and BL ID into the textboxes at the bottom of your RTB forum profile.
  4. Press Authenticate!

No private information is exchanged between your connection and the RTB forums, so there's no need to be concerned about any security/hacking issues.

We're VERY excited to finally get this feature rolled out on to the forums, and can't wait to show you what we're going to do with it. 

5

Modification Help / RTB For Retail.

« on: March 14, 2007, 08:24:50 PM »

We're working on it. It's not going to be anything like past RTB versions. Because of the great modding abilities in retail we can take RTB down a really fun and interesting road. I promise we'll show some screens before too long.

Discuss.

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General Discussion / Blockland Retail Beta Sreenshot Gallery (many pics).

« on: July 11, 2006, 01:33:58 AM »

I've had the retail beta since mid-May, so I've had lots of time to gather lots of good pics. I assume this thread will be used by other beta testers to post some of their favorite shots too. If you want any explanation on any of the pics, just let me know, and I'll describe what was happening, or who built which build. I have lots other builds saved, but I can't post pics because we're working on some other stuff right now. :) In the mean time, here are some of my favorite shots so far:

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Clan Discussion / Associated Building Clubs (ABC)

« on: April 29, 2006, 08:45:12 PM »

Announcing the best thing to happen to blockland club/clan/group scene since the USSR: The Associated Building Clubs of Blockland!

Who: This group is being started by me (from BLBC) and Facechild (from [USSR]).

What: We are starting group of clubs that specialize in certain themes and aspects of Blockland BUILDING.

Why: Because USSR and BLBC are the two best building clubs, and we want to see more builds like ours, and better than the crap that we build.

When, where: Right here, right now.

How: So far there are two groups in the ABC. They are the Blockland Builders Club (run by me) and the USSR. Think of the BLBC as the club at the top of the pyramid, and the USSR as a niche group with a theme. This is how the general layout of the ABC will go. Groups that want to be members of the ABC should have a theme or something that makes them unique.

Every group of the ABC has to have theme, or style, or something that makes them stand out from the rest of the regular clubs out there. They must focus on building (fighting IN ADDITION to building is fine, but building should be the main focus).

The membership gaining process goes like this: You must build something with your potential group members. You must also come up with a name that describes your group. Like how USSR tells people that they build communist stuff. Then post that build in the gallery and put "ABC Audition:" in the title. Also be sure to include detailed description of your group and how you think it would fit into the ABC. Me and Facechild will then critique your build and decide whether we think it's good enough. We will also decide whether your club idea its well. If you have a good build but not a good club idea, we will work with you to think of a better one. If you have a crappy build but a good club idea, then you're pretty much out of luck.

Some sample ideas for club builds:

Pirate theme, real-life replicas (like statue of liberty, golden gate bridge, empire state), military theme, space theme, etc.

To have a good build, you should remember this:

1) You should use the editor wand to rotate bricks so that your builds don't look like a child could have slapped them together.

2) You should use the editor want TASTEFULLY when stretching bricks. If you have nasty, stretched brick textures everywhere then the build will suffer a lot and not be approved. You should usually only be stretching bricks if a) you are creating something with a Lego piece that RTB doesn't have modelled, or b) stretching box-bricks for lag-reducing. Don't forget that stretched peg textures look bad, so use a couple extra bricks and make sure they don't show.

3) Build should show originality and creativity. If you're just re-creating actual Lego sets, then that might not get you many places.

4) The bigger the better, usually. The larger a build is, the more impressive it looks. Of course not every build should be huge, but every build should still be impressive.

This is just the beginning of the ABC, so I'm sure we'll think of more to add later. Questions, comments, ideas?

8

AoT General / Announcement: Government of Starboard Town in session.

« on: March 18, 2006, 07:55:17 PM »

Ok everyone, we now have an official government of Starboard town. Here's how it works:

There are different levels of government. At the top are the lords, which is a small group. Then below them we have a slightly larger group of officers that will watch over the town when Lords are away. Below them are the citizens.

As of the beginning of the the government formation there are only lords. The lords are as follows (alphabetically):

Ephialtes
Nitramtj
Mocheeze
Pepperpot
Rititundo

I am the head lord just because it makes things easier to have a figurehead, but I don't really have any more power than the other guys. Rititundo and Pepperpot haven't confirmed yet whether they want to be part of this, but we assume they do.

Even though many of the lords are/were developers for RTB this group it not affiliated with RTB in anyway (other than using RTB webspace for hosting files, like the spiffy image at the beginning of the post).

We're still working out the full system of how citizenship works. Here's our rough idea so far:

People must provide Lords with supplies like wood, rocks, fibers, dyes, etc. In return you are awarded citizenship, and the benefits afforded with it. Citizens of SBT (Starboard Town) get awarded many prizes like horses, gold, and other nice things that we're still thinking of. Along with the physical goods, you will build a camaraderie with the other citizens and form bonds of friendship with some cool guys.

Right now there are some known dis-advantages to the location of SBT. These include the absence of a post office, bank and beds. We're going to be lobbying for the addition of these amenities in the future. The biggest thing we need are beds, and there aren't really any reasons why Badspot wouldn't give them to us.

We won't recognize any other groups that have, or may try to, claim governance of SBT. There is apparently no acting government before us, and any other claims will be seen as a direct attack on the lords, and will be dealt with swiftly and quietly. We hope this won't even have to happen anyway, so it may be a moot point.

We're very excited about this new oppurtunity for people to enjoy AoT in new and interesting ways. Stay tuned to this thread for more details as we work them out. We will have an easy to use map to SBT soon also. For those that don't want to wait for the map, just go East from the volcano.

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Clan Discussion / BLBC - Blockland Builder's Club

« on: February 28, 2006, 12:24:11 AM »

Yes, we're still around... The Blockland Builder's Club. Blockland's first "building club"...

The Blockland Builder's Club (BLBC) is an association of users (led by myself) with the intent of promoting and making good "builds" in Blockland. We all love building, and of course hanging out with each other while we build. We're a pretty exclusive group, so it is not easy to become a member.

There are essentially 2 ways to become a member of the BLBC:

1) I invite you to join.
2) You take "the test".

#1 (invitation) is pretty self explanatory, and it by far the easiest way to get in. So far, every member of the BLBC has been inducted through this method. It is much easier to get in because BLBC members must display 2 primary traits: they must be fun to hang out with, and skillful at building. If someone has less-than-exceptional building skills, but are great to be in a server with, then they can still easily get invited. The social aspect of the BLBC is about 45% of the equation, and the building aspect is 55%.

#2 (the test) is definitely the hard way to get into the BLBC, and also requires much more explanation. To take the test, join a server that I'm hosting. If the server isn't holding tests, I will tell you. So let's say you ask to take the test, here's the process:

1) I tell you what to build right there on the spot.
2) You build it.
3) I (and any other BLBC members in the server) will judge it.
4) You are either confirmed, or denied.

Now I need to clarify some of the rules of testing. You must complete your test in one sitting (I'm not going to wait around for you to come back some other day and finish). You must complete the test without the help of other players.

You are judged on a few different points:

* General Quality: Do lines and seams line up correctly? Does it look "good"?
* Creativity/Originality: Builds with creative uses of bricks and objects are much better. Show us something that hasn't been done before. Things like "boxy" buildings are the exact opposite of what we're looking for.
* Lagginess (less is better of course). BLBC builds are generally large projects with many parts. It is imperative that each player conserves the number of polygons that they create, so that the general whole is less laggy.

Some may say, "How am I supposed to make it original, awesome, AND non-laggy?" Well, it's not impossible. Think of it like a puzzle. You will have to make compromises on the side of looks or lag, but it shouldn't be hard to create stunning works of art for an experienced builder.

You only have ONCE CHANCE to take the test. You can't come by a month later and ask to take it again. However, you can still be invited after failing the test, but it is extremely unlikely.

The BLBC is not concerned with personal egos, or bragging rights. We do not put a "[BLBC]" tag in our name. We are an "anti-clan" in that respect. We believe that members shouldn't need to advertise the fact that they belong to a special group (like the BLBC), and that they should gain a reputation based on their own merit. For that reason, people in clans are at a *slight* disadvantage to getting into the BLBC, just because there are so many clans out there with immature people that just view their clan membership as a "notch" on their belts'. People should not be looking to join the BLBC because of the status, but rather because of the joy of building with fun people.

When a BLBC is being hosted, there will usually be a "Free Build Zone" that anyone can build at. One way to get noticed by a BLBC member is to build something very nice in the free build zone, and leave a simple sign telling the world that you made it. Then, if we are impressed with your work, we may ask you to help with our BLBC build (as a "friend" of the BLBC). After we've had more time to judge your personality and skills, we may then ask you to become a full member of the BLBC. Feel free to post any questions about these rules, and I'll be happy to answer them, and edit the answers in to this main text. Thanks!

------------------------------------------------------------

Those are the basic rules to getting into the BLBC. If you don't like these rules or get rejected from the BLBC, then my advice to you is to create your own building club/group. Members of the BLBC love to see more people focused on building, so the more building clubs/groups out there, the better!

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General Discussion / New BL.us site.

« on: February 23, 2006, 06:58:36 PM »

Check out the front page.

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AoT General / I had a dream last night...

« on: December 22, 2005, 12:56:49 PM »

I had a dream that AoT got some major tech-news coverage (like BoingBoing and Engadget). Of course that's odd that a game like AoT would garner much outside attention. I remember thinking that if I went to check the server, that it would be totally full for a long time, and that I probably wouldn't want to play it again, haha.

Also, the name was changed to something "edgier" because that's what the publisher wanted. I don't remember the exact name, but I know that "pestilince" was in the title.

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AoT General / Very annoying bug with the prison.

« on: November 16, 2005, 07:04:26 PM »

There's a bug where someone who has a criminal record can stun you, then pick you up, and then hop into the jail, which will capture you, even though you might not have any criminal record. There is a guy on right now who has a whole collection of characters that he's cycling through, just doing this over and over to people. The only way to get out of it is to commit Self Delete, and either have someone resue you, or respawn, and give your cash the the criminal.

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General Discussion / Any chance of seeing Blockland on Xbox Live Arcade?

« on: October 20, 2005, 04:20:00 AM »

With the Xbox 360, Microsoft will be enlisting indie game devs to create some more simple-style games that can be downloaded from Xbox Live, and played online via the Xbox 360. Is there any chance that you guys would want to play Blockland Retail on your 360s?

I would personally think it would be awesome to enjoy the game with that huge of a userbase! And just think how much money Badspot would make from how many people would be downloading it!

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General Discussion / Little problem with Blockland.us website.

« on: October 18, 2005, 08:27:42 PM »

Typing in "http://blockland.us" for me doesn't work. I have to make sure to put a "www" in there for me to get to the site. I just thought I'd make that problem public, hopefully it can get fixed.

Peace.