Post by Parduz on Nov 5, 2010 13:44:14 GMT -9
This i going to be a long post. Sorry for that, but i'm in a happy mood and want to explain why
I bought this game (Mech Attack) about 9 months ago.
I printed them using an online photoprinting service (it cost nothing compared to home printing and the quality is far superior).
To do that i have scaled down everything at 75%: this allowed to put the pieces in the Photo format (11x15cm) and it has the benefit that bases will stay on a Heroscape Hex: i planned to play it on that hexes.
Then i took my best blade, my loved surgical knife, and i cutted the mechs and the vehicles. I built them, and they was so beautiful!
It was the time of the weapons, and i started cutting.... and cutting... and cutting.... and right now i still have to finish them. I'm not even near to 50% of them...
Now, a friend sent me machine cutted pieces. Cutted. Every single bit is cutted. Really. When the pieces arrived i was feeling like a crusader with the Holy Grail in the hands!
I tried to glue some meck with a Stick glue (a thing i have in abundnce 'cause my kids use it at school) but it was a bit messy: paper corners "peel" the glue making ruining everything.
I finally found a spray glue, so today i'm gone in my car box and tryed it.... what a delight.... everything is perfect, building them is fast, the sky is blue and the grass is green and... oh, well ;D
Now, this all make me willing to give some suggestion to the Armorgrid guys, and the ones that makes GSD files. As usual, all my suggestion is my only way to be constructive and useful (other than buying the minis).
1) I think that you (all) miniature designer should think at a "printing & cutting" service. There's no way i can afford a robocutter, and i guess i'm not alone. Paper miniature is a cheap way to play by definition. But really, without precutted pieces i will have never finished to cut and build them. I don't know how much Mech Attack sold, and i don't know how much it will cost printing, cutting and shipping the pieces, but i know for sure that i will never buy another game that needs so much work to play it. And, while i still have to try it, it seems to me a good game and so it is a shame buying it to let it collecting digital dust in my Hard disk.
Knowing now how much hard it is to me to cut things, i may think to pay more for cutted pieces.
Another pro is that the designers can print on the paper for witch the minis was designed. The photo paper i've got from that Online store is topnotch, rigid, thick.... folding the vehicles was a pain (they are doubled, so folding the tiny parts breaks the paper).
2) The only drawback of precutted pieces is that they are hard to fold with precision, 'cause the "folding line" sometime is just 2 points of paper. So my suggestion (and this is valid for any miniature sheet also) is to cut the pieces, but leaving them attacched on the stripe of paper that "surrounds" the folding line. Folding it then should requires no efforts 'cause the line is long, and with just a couple of straight cuts everything is done.
I guess that in that way it may take even less time to have pieces ready than having each one cutted.
More, spraying the glue to a bigger piece of paper makes it less prone to fly under the "force" of the spray gas.
That's enough!
I hope to have the time to finish everything this w.e. and to test this game tuesday!
I bought this game (Mech Attack) about 9 months ago.
I printed them using an online photoprinting service (it cost nothing compared to home printing and the quality is far superior).
To do that i have scaled down everything at 75%: this allowed to put the pieces in the Photo format (11x15cm) and it has the benefit that bases will stay on a Heroscape Hex: i planned to play it on that hexes.
Then i took my best blade, my loved surgical knife, and i cutted the mechs and the vehicles. I built them, and they was so beautiful!
It was the time of the weapons, and i started cutting.... and cutting... and cutting.... and right now i still have to finish them. I'm not even near to 50% of them...
Now, a friend sent me machine cutted pieces. Cutted. Every single bit is cutted. Really. When the pieces arrived i was feeling like a crusader with the Holy Grail in the hands!
I tried to glue some meck with a Stick glue (a thing i have in abundnce 'cause my kids use it at school) but it was a bit messy: paper corners "peel" the glue making ruining everything.
I finally found a spray glue, so today i'm gone in my car box and tryed it.... what a delight.... everything is perfect, building them is fast, the sky is blue and the grass is green and... oh, well ;D
Now, this all make me willing to give some suggestion to the Armorgrid guys, and the ones that makes GSD files. As usual, all my suggestion is my only way to be constructive and useful (other than buying the minis).
1) I think that you (all) miniature designer should think at a "printing & cutting" service. There's no way i can afford a robocutter, and i guess i'm not alone. Paper miniature is a cheap way to play by definition. But really, without precutted pieces i will have never finished to cut and build them. I don't know how much Mech Attack sold, and i don't know how much it will cost printing, cutting and shipping the pieces, but i know for sure that i will never buy another game that needs so much work to play it. And, while i still have to try it, it seems to me a good game and so it is a shame buying it to let it collecting digital dust in my Hard disk.
Knowing now how much hard it is to me to cut things, i may think to pay more for cutted pieces.
Another pro is that the designers can print on the paper for witch the minis was designed. The photo paper i've got from that Online store is topnotch, rigid, thick.... folding the vehicles was a pain (they are doubled, so folding the tiny parts breaks the paper).
2) The only drawback of precutted pieces is that they are hard to fold with precision, 'cause the "folding line" sometime is just 2 points of paper. So my suggestion (and this is valid for any miniature sheet also) is to cut the pieces, but leaving them attacched on the stripe of paper that "surrounds" the folding line. Folding it then should requires no efforts 'cause the line is long, and with just a couple of straight cuts everything is done.
I guess that in that way it may take even less time to have pieces ready than having each one cutted.
More, spraying the glue to a bigger piece of paper makes it less prone to fly under the "force" of the spray gas.
That's enough!
I hope to have the time to finish everything this w.e. and to test this game tuesday!