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Post by uptrainfan89 on Jun 4, 2012 8:50:09 GMT -9
I was wandering if anyone has bought Dirt Cheep Starships Basic Set from Microtactix at some point and what they thought of it? Also what all does it come with, the description is kinda vague on Drivethrurpg, I know it's an older set. Also it has a lack of pictures. I was just looking around for some simple white build models and ran across it. Thanks!
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Post by Rhannon on Jun 4, 2012 9:20:55 GMT -9
Hi uptrainfan89, Some years ago I bought a few sets by Microtactix. Some figures' sets ( Obviously. At the end I'm primarily a paper figures' collector ) and some models/buildings' sets. Now I'm at work so I can't see what I have at home. I check tonight ( now in Italy it is 19 pm ) or tomorrow. I think microtactix doesn't produce anything new from a long time and some prices are, today, overrated, imho. Many Microtactix sets/models, imho, have suffered the time. But If you just need only white and simple models, something might still be ok. When I just can, I look at what I have to show to you as an example.
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Post by Rhannon on Jun 5, 2012 1:16:49 GMT -9
( 11,30 am in Italy ) Figures: Budget Battlefield ROYAL HUMAN and UNDEAD ARMIES 12$ ( imho too much expensive today ). Not great definition. front art with black silouette silhouette. two figures seem to have front and back art but with trick. The horse are mirrored. In the set there are also cards for the characters and for the troops and buildings. But ... this set is from 2003 and today is conceptually very very old, imho. Idem for all other figures' sets. I don't have the set that you search but I have "Starbase Omega 3" ( 2001 ) So you have to expect something similar: I bought these sets a few years ago (and there was not much choice) but now I think there is something better for 18 $.
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Post by glennwilliams on Jun 5, 2012 14:10:03 GMT -9
There was a time when these were cutting edge, but now they're a C-64 in an Android world.
I learned coloring in Photoshop on the black and white sets.
Sadly, they were left to wither. Consider where he could have gone with them (assuming more reasonable price points).
Now, I can't recommend them.
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Post by kiladecus on Jun 5, 2012 17:11:52 GMT -9
Hey, they are still more advanced than MY work! I owe a LOT to Microtactix. It was only when I bought the software package of Twilight Street from my local gaming store did I find out there was a whole papercraft world out there. Their stuff isn't too bad, but seeing that latest advances from pioneers like Squrimydad, Dave Graffam, Glenn Williams and Mel Ebbles, these are just not up to par. But ten years ago when they were released, they were really something, I'm sure. And who knows, maybe it was these sets that inspired other people to help bring the craft to what it is today. I can honestly say I have their sets in my "Wish List," but I have more pressing things to purchase first. Just my thoughts...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2012 17:53:08 GMT -9
Despite the time passage I like these art style, though it's really pity that with quite nice art minis are one-sided... But from other hand imho its better/fair to provide black silhouette than mirrored A-side or (worst solution) badly designed B-side. Rhannon -- regarding "trick" -- actually it's even simpler -- WHOLE figure is copied and only SHIELD added
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Post by uptrainfan89 on Jun 8, 2012 14:45:49 GMT -9
Thanks Guys for the info! I think I'll hold of on getting any Microtactix sets. I think I agree with most here, they are just too over priced for how old they are, Lol.
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Post by glennwilliams on Jun 9, 2012 11:18:49 GMT -9
Look at the figure sets (some were reissued as "heroic size"). They're worth a second glance--if the price isn't an issue, I recommend the Shee'Tok.
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Post by weaponx569 on Oct 21, 2016 13:44:19 GMT -9
I was wondering if anyone has bought the Microtactix Budget Battlefields Battlelands SF Mini-Setting and kitbashed the teleport ring. I remember seeing on another websites forum someone who had done so but I cannot remember which site it was. Any help will be appreciated
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Post by Christopher Roe on Oct 22, 2016 10:36:53 GMT -9
There was a time when these were cutting edge, but now they're a C-64 in an Android world. I learned coloring in Photoshop on the black and white sets. Sadly, they were left to wither. Consider where he could have gone with them (assuming more reasonable price points). Now, I can't recommend them. The Microtactix stuff was what intrigued me in the early 2000s. The fact that you could download, print, and build something off the Internet just struck me as really cool, but I felt like they were being too conservative with their artwork given how rapidly printer technology was advancing. Black and white line art printed on colored paper would've been fine in the 90s, but in the early 2000s, I had a cheap, crappy little HP printer that was *still* capable of so much more than simple uncolored line art. I understood why they did things the way they did, I just felt they went overboard on being conservative. Plus the geometry was super basic, and I'd known for years before that that it was possible to build more complex shapes than they provided with not much more effort. So, I started doing the kind of models I wanted to build--textured in full color, with visually pleasing geometry that was just complex enough to stand up on its own next to painted figures. I was using a more painterly, completely non-photorealistic style back in those days with wash shadowing and edge highlighting, but I had a tendency to, um, get a bit too enthusiastic and overdo the geometric complexity. I got better at it over the years, but I still look at the Fei Qiu and the Wiking from time to time to remind myself not to let my head grow too fat. When I discovered people preferred photorealistic/hyperrealistic styles and were completely fine with the visual differences between painted figures and photorealistic/hyperrealistic paper models and scenery, I shelled out for Photoshop in 2005 and switched my texturing style over to a hybrid of the two styles. In fact, I'm in the middle of developing a new artistic style at the moment. I think that's really the only mistake Microtactix made: not keeping up with the state of the art and evolving with the times as people's preferences and desires changed.
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