Wednesday, August 13, 2008

New Contest - BRICK SCIENCE

Yes, it's time to announce the next Reasonably Clever contest!

The world is constantly being threatened by mad scientists and evil geniuses, bent on domination of planet Earth.
Our everyday livelihood is preserved only by the heroic actions of good and decent scientists and their gizmos (and occasional ineptitude).

Will you save mankind?

Doom it?

Or just sit back and make S'mores as the world burns?



A Reasonably Clever Contest of Skill, Creativity, and...SCIENCE!
Click for Details!

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39 Comments:

Anonymous dave the rave said...

I love it!!!!! Just one thing: can we use an existing (but heavily modified) Agents set as an entry?

August 13, 2008 1:15 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Dave,

That'd be a "No" on that one. This needs to be all original work.

August 13, 2008 1:43 PM  
Blogger TK1420 said...

Now that I finally have the Lego lab set up in the new house, I am ready for this contest!

August 13, 2008 1:50 PM  
Blogger Nick said...

I may actually enter this one, I have an idea for a Class 4 entry.

August 13, 2008 4:45 PM  
Blogger Zacknut said...

I'm a little confuzed. Will we see examples for all classes?

August 13, 2008 7:31 PM  
Blogger Baz said...

I'm gonna get a Science Guy and enter him, I've always wanted to read "The Milkman"!

August 14, 2008 4:56 AM  
Blogger Geoffrey said...

I wonder if Dave the Rave meant we could make a MOC based on parts out of the Agents sets? Plenty of people have done similar things, maybe you should consider an entry category for the person who wants to take their favourite science-like set and transform it.

If I were to suggest rules, they would be something along these lines:

#1. Set to be transformed must be built from parts that came from a new-in-box (MISB) set; from a theme based on science or mechanical principles, not magic (IE no taking a Harry Potter set and transforming it into a science vignette.); and be of sufficient size to have one or minifigs created as per rule #3 below; have been released within the last 5 years.

#2. All parts from set must be used - except parts listed as extra from set inventory are optional.

#3. If set does not have minifigs, there must be sufficient parts in it to make one minifig-like character, or set must contain at least two dissimilar minifigs, more are optional but not necessarily better.

If Chris would like to do this, I might try for an entry. I may have a few sets I'd consider for transformation in this manner if he makes up an extra category, and if it gets enough entries.

Suggestions for modifications to this proposed category are welcome.

August 14, 2008 4:59 AM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Geoffrey:

Sorry, but I'm not adding a new category. Besides, this is really Graviton's contest - he came up with the theme and bought all but the GEM prizes. If you want to sponsor (read: pay for) a future contest, drop me a line and we'll talk.

August 14, 2008 7:08 AM  
Anonymous babyjawa said...

Well you have opened the contest, but we aren't allowed to enter before the 15th which is tomorrow. Wouldn't it make more sense to open it the day you could start entering?

August 14, 2008 5:05 PM  
Anonymous Sophie said...

i agree with baby.

and if something is in the figs hand does it count as the minifig?????

August 14, 2008 6:05 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

baby, sophie:

The idea of putting up the info a couple of days early was to give folks a jump on build times.

Why not spend a day or two polishing a build, rather than rushing in a crap entry that's likely to lose? It's not a race, it's a skills contest.

As to Sophie's question, what part of this rule are you having trouble reading?
For this contest, a standard minifig (torso, arms, hands, legs, head, 1 headgear) constitutes a mere 1 piece; all accessories beyond this constitute additional pieces.
The only think I can think of that'd be confusing is the new robotic arm from the agents set - in that case you get ONE piece to plug in the hole to act as a hand. (IE a 7 piece gun-as-hand would count towards the total as Minifig+6 parts)

If you put something in the figure's hand, that's an accessory and counts separately.

August 14, 2008 6:19 PM  
Anonymous SuperDave said...

Would a monkey (standard-issue, like from the old pirate sets) count as 1 piece or 5 pieces? What about hook monkeys (monkeys with 4 hands replaced by hooks)? And how about skeletons (either old or new)? Six pieces or 1?

August 15, 2008 12:11 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Superdave:

Good questions. The monkey I would count as one piece (hook hands or regular)

A skeleton (old or new) I would count as LEGO does - six pieces. (Head, 2 arms, 2 legs, torso unit.)

August 15, 2008 12:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does it have to be a new MOC? What if the MOC is old, but never yet photographed/posted online?

August 15, 2008 1:04 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Anon:

If it hasn't been posted online, then the age of the MOC doesn't matter.

August 15, 2008 1:07 PM  
Anonymous superdave said...

Another followup question: Can secondary figures (assistants/victims/apprentices/etc.) be included in the impulse sets? If so, do they count under the same 1-piece allowances the scientists do?

August 15, 2008 2:34 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Superdave:

Secondary figures are allowed, but would be counted per LEGO-part standards. Head, hairpiece, torso (includes arms, hands), and legs would each have to be counted separately.
(IE a figure with hair, head, torso, legs would count as four parts)


When in doubt, just treat it like you'd see a parts listing at the back of the instructions for a LEGO set. If they break up the parts, so should you.

August 15, 2008 2:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is it OK if the scientist is more of an inventor?

August 15, 2008 4:09 PM  
Anonymous The Jinja Ninja said...

Chris

The rules state that "Modified pieces [...] are ONLY allowed in Class 2 and 3 IF the subject is an evil/mad scientist." However, could we use modified pieces in class 4 if the (fictional) scientist is evil/mad? I ask because I'd quite like to do a 'Casey & Andy' ( http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=1 ), but Casey's hair doesn't really lend itself to bg brick-built. :P

August 15, 2008 4:41 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Anon:

Sure, but you're sure to loose points in the "SCIENCE!" category.

Jinja:

I've adjusted the rules - it doesn't make sense to keep MB out of cat 4 if the scientist is evil/mad.

August 15, 2008 4:46 PM  
Anonymous The Jinja Ninja said...

Excellent...


Muahahahahaaaa!

August 16, 2008 9:47 AM  
Anonymous Azaghal G. said...

Is the use of real or fictional characters limited to class 4, or could a class 1, 2, or 3 entry also use a recognizable character providing that it follows all the other entry guidelines?

August 16, 2008 3:17 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

azaghal:

You can use real/fictional scientists in all four classes provided, as you noted, you follow the rules for that particular class.

August 16, 2008 4:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If it was a scientist from your imagination, wouldn't that make it fictional? ...Meaning that EVERY entry MUST include either a real scientist or a fictional one!

August 16, 2008 7:00 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Anon:

Sure, you could probably twist the rules and put anyone into that 4th class ("I have an unpublished short story featuring this guy!") but...I can tell you now that sort of rules-twisting isn't going to impress the judges and earn you a win. (And since I'm a judge I can promise you that.)

August 16, 2008 8:13 PM  
Anonymous NewRight said...

Skeletons are 1 minifig, correct.

August 17, 2008 5:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's not what I meant, Christopher Doyle. I was merely pointing out the fact that the last category's description implies that the other categories can include scientists that are neither fictitious (imaginary) nor real, which is an impossibility.

August 17, 2008 6:09 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Newright:

Nope, they're six. (head, 2 arms, 2 legs, torso)
See the explanation at 8/15 12:49

Anon:
Oooooh-kay. I think you're spending a bit too much effort looking for holes and errors in the rules here. Unclench a bit; this is all in fun.

August 17, 2008 6:50 PM  
Anonymous takua-777 said...

I may have stretched the definition of "overhang" a to it's limits in my vignette, the panel supporting the back 2 support beams for the walkway looks like part of the base, but is actually only connected via the beams. is that ok? it's too late now, but I could do to know if I need to alter it or anything.

August 18, 2008 6:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd like to point out that entry #3 from Category 4 was posted in December, it has comments about it from December 2007. If I read the rules correctly that makes it ineligible since it's been previously posted.

August 19, 2008 7:33 PM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Anon: Thanks for pointing that out. I've removed the entry from the grid and notified the entrant.

August 19, 2008 7:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

if i do a joint entry with someone else does that count as my one entry per category?

August 20, 2008 6:40 AM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

Anon:

Correct; A joint build would still count as the only time you could enter a given category.

August 20, 2008 8:00 AM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

DB/LT:

No reason you can't enter your own take on the character. There's nothing in the rules prohibiting duplication of scientists.
(I figured we'd end up with roughly a dozen Dr. Horrible appearances)

August 21, 2008 10:52 AM  
Blogger mooP said...

This post has been removed by the author.

August 22, 2008 12:50 AM  
Blogger mooP said...

Got a question about a class 1 entry, and hopefully it's not a stupid one :) I used one mini-fig, but the top half is separated from the legs. Would that count as one or two pieces? Thanks!

August 22, 2008 12:53 AM  
Blogger Christopher Doyle said...

MooP:

Depends - if it's your only mini, it'd count as 1 part. If it's a second mini, it counts as two. (Head, Torso, counted as LEGO counts parts)

August 22, 2008 1:59 AM  

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