Spring to be featured in Wired Magazine

[kb18951452]

Been a very long time since i have worked w/ this. The main thread related to this post is "Tabula cut on a CNC" which is a very old thread, and i wanted more attention to this post so i created a nw thread. Forgive me if you disagree.

http://www.wired.com/) The editor from Wired Magazine emailed me the other day. We spoke for about 20 minutes. Here is the email:

"Mr. Barry,

I came across your blog while researching a story for Wired on makers who use relatively high-tech devices at home (CNC, 3D printers, etc.). Your CNCÔÇÖd reliefs of video game maps seem, well, perfect for us. Techy, geeky, homemade. TheyÔÇÖre great. WeÔÇÖd like to have a writer interview you for a step-by-step feature on how you made those tables. Is this something youÔÇÖd be interested in participating in?

WeÔÇÖre on a bit of a deadline, so the writer would have to speak with you the first or maybe the second week of January, but the earlier the better. The interview could be done by phone, but we would also likely want to send a photographer out to shoot your home workshop and one of the tables.

Please let me know how all of this sounds. IÔÇÖll be on email over the weekend and available at the cell number listed below.

Best regards,
John Bradley"

So, Looks like i have some work to do. I've been considering actually cutting out the table, for real this time. Not just from scraps, but real, actual-value wood.

I am still thinking of doing MoonQ20, I think its a good map, but here is the deal I have.

If anyone is interested, and has a Map in mind they would like as an actual coffee table, and will work w/ me to get the details worked out as soon as possible, I will make the table and send it to you (After the photos have been taken of course), at nearly cost. I have come across a bunch of free wood (good quality stuff, but its REALLY heavy), so if it were made with that stuff, it would be free in materials (but the shipping would be more, than if it were made from other materials, but then the materials would cost more). If you would be planning on it being painted, the one material might be better than another. I suspect we'd be looking at a cost of over $100, but probably less than $250 (all depends on the details)

So, Here is what I need, if your interested:

First off, Half Down on the costs I incur.
A map choice
and time to work w/ me very quickly to make decision about construction,size, color, whatever)

PM me, or send me an email at kennethscottbarry at (gmail) DOT com.

One last thing, I might nix your first choice in map for technical reasons. (just a heads up). Any takers?

I'll be in a time crunch, so I'll need to get going with this very soon.

[KaiserJ]

i dont have any room for a coffee table or i`d jump on this

Talus would be a great example of a nice complicated heightmap that would look (in my mind at least) incredible as a 3d relief with wood grain running through it

i`d love to see frozen fortress in coffee table form, but that`s probably just because i made it

something else that strikes me as i write this; apart from coffee tables, you could make some cool stuff...

a pro surface for tabletop wargames surely (a solid piece of wood, painted and flocked in the style of wh40k would blow anything you see in their magazines out of the water)

also looking at the coffee table i have right now, its got a glass top with oak (or something) around the outside with a cornucopia motif around the outside; might be neat to make something like this for your final design, a spring map bordered around the outside with 3d reliefs of arm and core logos as well as some peewees and aks and other trinkets

anyways im sure it`ll be great whatever you decide; its awesome that wired contacted you and i know for sure you`ll come up with something awesome for your submission

if that border motif thing interests you, then i think either i or some of the other artnerds around here could easily throw something workable together (given stuff like dimensions and resolution of the design... how fine can you make it anyways just out of personal interest?)

[kb18951452]

my machine can accurately carve to within .004". As for how "Small" a carving i can do, i think i would have to say, i can make carvings more detailed than wood can handle, but if it could handle it, the the carvings can be as detailed as you are able to perceive with your eyes.

I can get unit models as reliefs aswell, might be fun around the border to have some very shallow reliefs of them. (MAybe add some paint)

I would love some help on the border artwork, I was affraid i might scare people off with the $$$ i am talking about, but the truth is, i am just asking for shipping + materials (probably <$50) meaning, if someone wants to come get it from me in the Bay Area, OR in Texas (Could send it there when my wife goes back home to visit in a month, of some place on the way there (AZ, NM)

[kb18951452]

KaiserJ
your gonna pass up the Awesome Epicness of a Coffee table to keep holding on your that "corny crapia" of a talbe you have now? Did i fail to mention this one will have built in Pew Pew?

[KaiserJ]

:3 but i love my delicious corn

nah its more to do with justifying shipping costs; you're so damned far from me... i live in toronto, we're a whole continent apart :<

but yeah, so theres no -real- limit to the resolution; i know you told me before but ive forgotten... what sort of format does your machine accept

i dont mind sticking together a design though if you'd like something with a border, with objs of TA units and suchforth (this exists right?) it would be a simple case of making a layout with models that already exist, then sending you the mesh....



i was envisioning something akin to this, but rectangular, with talus in the middle and peewee/ak/flash etc as the little symbols around the outside (dont forget the spring logo!)

anyways. even if im going to be scroogy about tangible things like cost, i'd love to help with some sort of design, if only to support spring and put on our best face for something with a massive readership like wired, let alone any sort of fun that might occur during the process

[kb18951452]

Sure you don't wanna make some room for this? I see making it rectangular with 2 rows of unit reliefs on both ends to make the map more rectangular.

Could be pretty sweet.

[Hobo Joe]

Slightly off the topic of the Wired feature - but are you able to make deeper maps? I noticed in the old CNC thread that all of the carvings were flattened. Was this intentional to save time/wood, or can your machine/bit not go deeper than that?

I too would love to see a Talus carving, that map has one of the nicer heightmaps among Spring maps, IMO. Then again, if you're going for something nice in a feature, you might want to pick something that isn't symmetrical, even if it is diagonal. Tundra is another good one, although it's also symmetrical.

[kb18951452]

Asymetrical is wonderful. And i can carve deeper. Before, i had a limited budget, and experience. Now i have large bits (longer, for deeper projects). Making smaller projects was fine because if a small one worked, a large would aswell, and smaller takes less materials, and smaller bits (Which is all i had)

I'm leaning towards MoonQ20 out of Ipe Wood (google it, its pretty stuff). I want something that is not just cool to gamers, but pretty/elegant aswell. I think that an unpainted carving of moonq20 will kinda show the coolness of it to the gamers, and the like, but also have an elegant (bare wood) appearance that hopefully will appeal to a segment of society that (forgive me) has more money thab the average "gamer".

However, I'm still open to others idea. I may want to proto something smaller in the Ipe, Maybe a Talus Clock? HunterW?

[hunterw]

I'm glad someone found your idea as cool as I did! It can't hurt Spring's playerbase to be featured in a huge national magazine like WIRED.

Talus clock sounds badass it is the best choice of my maps, since the heightmap alone will look cool without any texture. It's square, which is nice for a clock, and not nice for a coffee table.

[Hobo Joe]

MoonQ20x would be a great one. Talus is amazing as well, just that the symmetry may be a downside for a more artsy project like this.

[Johannes]

Talus is great for this I think, just the amount of detail makes it most interesting, it showcases the craftmanship of both mapmaking and woodcarving. Other maps might be on par aesthetically but are not as impressive technically. And such makes for a more interesting article for me at least.

And Talus might look better if the height is scaled down a bit, but that's just a hunch.

[hunterw]

MoonQ20x would be a great one. Talus is amazing as well, just that the symmetry may be a downside for a more artsy project like this.

True, the symmetry only makes sense for something like a clock, which is symmetric by design. I think it'd look best hung diagonally. It would also necessitate gluing on baby krogoths for the hour symbols.

There are plenty of great asymmetric offerings around - the newer maps of Beherith, Smoth, KaiserJ, SirArtturi, et al come to mind.

MoonQ20x is a strong candidate from older maps. Interestingly, it doesn't even scream "videogame", as it's pretty faithfully representative of the moon. Grandma's would see the coffee table and say it was the moon, instead of being confused.

[smoth]

if he has started odds are he probably already did, the guy said he was in a time crunch.

[hrmph]

Wow, Wired! This could mean some massive exposure..

[Caydr]

Yes this will lead to some terrific exposure, but nobody will actually start playing since we've completely exhausted the internet's supply of people who can put up with that piece-of-shit control panel. PIECE OF SHIT.

To be fair, I haven't even had Spring installed for like 6 months, so maybe someone whose primary vocation wasn't data obfuscation has given it a once-over in that time.

[kb18951452]

Wired came over this weekend. Spent nearly 12 hours at my place, shooting video, taking pictures. (They even got some game footage).

Supposed to be in the April issue.

[Neddie]

Wired came over this weekend. Spent nearly 12 hours at my place, shooting video, taking pictures. (They even got some game footage).

Supposed to be in the April issue.

Very cool, sir!

[SinbadEV]

Wired came over this weekend. Spent nearly 12 hours at my place, shooting video, taking pictures. (They even got some game footage).

Supposed to be in the April issue.

I'm curious what game?

[kb18951452]

BA on MoonQ20 (The article covers the process and construction of the table.

The final project is a short (sit on the floor at it) game/play table measuring 2ft by 3ft. Above the carving will be plexiglass. 2 boys are getting the table, and so it will be a leggo storage/play item. (Lego bins stow underneath, and the flat surface is for construction. Then the plexi comes off, and the Galactic combat begins!
I'm working on a plastic Extruder for my machine so i can print plactic miniatures from the game. Anyone up for a Warhammer 40K - Style Spring game? Might be the next big thing!

[Caydr]

BA? Not my project anymore but I still claim half a credit. I've been in a magazine 1.5 times now, what have you people been doing with your life? Having sex with girls?