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This the current proposal feel free to copy it and mess around with the patterns

I think this is all very helpful as your passion for this make it all worth it. I think we will get somewhere with this.

How about this?




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DaveC wrote:
This the current proposal feel free to copy it and mess around with the patterns

Awesome Dave =).

No problem I changed the image to add a full diamond plate pattern it's just something for everyone to experiment with - resize the tiles make new ones whatever it's a base to work off wish i had more time to look at it tonight but I'll try a few things tomorrow.

GamesNGears wrote:


This should not be too repetitive if you rotate it?

Well, your problem is you're only making 12"x12" boards, so you'd have a whole table of this random jumble. Looking at the Hirst stuff, if you made one board with those at 4"x4", so 4 of them on a plate, that would be good. But then you'd want something else to mix in with it. So maybe a plate that is all diamond plate, or one with smaller 1"x1" and 2"x2" x's on it. I just don't think you're going to hit on one plate, and have anyone buy a futuristic battlefield of just that one plate. And especially not one this busy. Looks like you're trying for 5 looks, and just crammed them together.

Now, I could get behind the plate surface in the middle for most of a plate, then have the conveyer belt part from the top right hand side running right down the middle, as a people or crate mover. That would be awesome. And then the second band makes a great looking rusting metal feel, that the GW building could sit on as a 12"x12" plate. And that first band is the perfect sidewalk for a road plate.

So I think you have some great looking ideas, but egads, not on 1 plate. Break that stuff up, think about what you wold actually see in the future.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

GamesNGears wrote:
I think this is all very helpful as your passion for this make it all worth it. I think we will get somewhere with this.

How about this?




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DaveC wrote:
This the current proposal feel free to copy it and mess around with the patterns

Awesome Dave =).

I like both of these. I think the new one from Games and Gears would be great for use in a sci-fi setting that you could set a trenchline on, or even use it as PSP landing strips in a desert board, etc. Great stuff!

We will juggle it around (as we enjoy this kind of stuff =P). Hopefully have something tomorrow or later tonight. If it looks cool with a non repetitive. We hope to get 100 posts declaring they will pledge for this battle board. The we will add it as our 6th and final battle board for our Kickstarter.

Will get in touch with Dakka crew for the use of the name and more.

Cheers!!

 judgedoug wrote:

GamesNGears wrote:


This should not be too repetitive if you rotate it?

That's getting better, but maybe a bit more randomness? I know this is design-by-committee and that often fails, but hopefully we can get something awesome out of it.

Here's my attempt, using ASCII art

+------------+ |. . . | | | . . .|-----| |------| |\\ | | | \\| | |----|\ \| | |####|\\ | +------------+ rotated 180 +------------+ | \\|####| | |\ \|----| | |\\ | | | \\| |------| |-----| . . .| | |. . . | +------------+

something like that, that has no pattern, the details are broken up, and can be rotated to make some random looking ground, but can also be flipped 180 so that sides can match up (like the bottom ####'s could match up to a tile turned 180 so it's #### is on the top)

yah, this is sort of what I was trying to get at earlier.

Also don't be afraid to add a circle vents or something to break up the straight lines.

Yeah must admit I like where your going with that last suggestion Games and Gears add some textures and details to it but don't overly complicate the design keep it simple - one thing that becomes obvious with the 12x12 1" inch squares is that it's very repetitive very quickly.

One last one to throw in the mix as this has irregular tiled patterns and they aren't all square/rectangular don't know why I didn't remember it before!

Not a bad 'inspiration' idea Dave!

IIRC, that thing is a 3' square?

I also like your proposed layout with optional squares too.

The problem with the latest G&G proposed square has already been pointed out - in a 4' x 6' configuration, it will look like a confused, jumbled mess - someone mentioned a junk yard?

Not bad for a particular theme, but again, not quite the generic SF board that will really light a fire under people...

Very cool stuff. Will have something for you all tomorrow. This is great community involvement. =D. What we like.

Thanks!

I fill the main issue is the 1 tile configuration, an interesting board needs more than a single tile, yes on some environments it may work, the sand board works well alone, the cracked earth and stonework will work well as an RPG dungeon map for combat, but the wargames need more variety, this a single tile will not be really easy to provide.

I think the average wargamer will look at what terrain is available and how it can combine it with the board to see if the board is good, admittedly I did that for Infinity, I have 3 ranges I could use Microarts, Warmills and Sarrissa (and there are 3 new forming lines and they are close to microarts), from the 3 Microart do not fit in any of the boards they are an sci fi urban line and look out of the blue in all suggested boards, the cracked earth board and the sand board would look good for the pod colony out in the badlands Warmill and Sarisa have and this is what I had and still have in mind when I pledged, while I would be ecstatic for a sci fi urban board to be frank, still I do plan on getting the pods so I do look forward to the cracked earth and sand and the hibreed of the two.

So to get my thoughts a bit more coherent, all tiles so far minus the sci fi one have a merit for rpg players if they are up to paying for a tile and a hex grid over it, should be easy to recreate many encounters.

For the wargamer, in my opinion, the sand board is blunt but good, the cracked earth is the same, the urban war can only be useful in a medieval town setting, I am not sure how the sci fi tile can be used, I mean alone as part of a bigger setup looks good like a landing pad, a door to an underground complex, an elevator, but a whole board of them?

I believe for a wargamer board, a single tile configuration may not cut it, maybe this is why it moves a bit slow and it is a shame this is the most honest and upfront kickstarter I have seen and the potential it carries under it, is tremendous.

I am not sure I can offer advice, I understand the single tile configuration, tooling is expensive, putting all eggs in one basket and making a single board comprising of multiple tiles instead of 4-5 different tiles that can be used to make 4-5 different boards is risky and hitting a broader audience is more logical.

I also understand why you want to show only complete and available boards and not concept art for not yet to be realized tiles.

Maybe different streachgoals and structure?
if we reach X we will produce Y themed board (comprising of Z number of different tiles) and next 3 streachgoals be for unlocking more tiles for said board?

For example X unlocks wasteland board (3 tiles 1 small cracked earth, 1 large cracked earth, 1 plateau cracked earth) and the next 3 stretch goals enhance it with one tile each, maybe a "carved" crack earth straight that could be used as a road or a river or a lava river, a similar but turn and a raised tile? next be the naval board with 3 tiles sea tile a sea tile b sea tile with small island(s)?

I don't know I hadn't given it much thought before and these are just the ideas that came to my mind and I must agree its riskier than the single tile approach.

Turns out the best way to make it asymmetrical is to go diagonally

Now this crudely knocked together but you get the idea so long as you follow the red cardinal points everything lines up no matter what way you turn the boards tghe pattern inside can be anything you like (on a diagonal grid that is)

 DaveC wrote:
This the current proposal feel free to copy it and mess around with the patterns

I VOTE FOR THIS STYLE
Something I can play D&D, Deathwatch and SDE on. a 3d gridded board without the need for the sticker (so I can paint the detail on and feel the board (rather than the flat surface... I would use tiles if I wanted it to be flat)

 DaveC wrote:
Turns out the best way to make it asymmetrical is to go diagonally

Now this crudely knocked together but you get the idea so long as you follow the red cardinal points everything lines up no matter what way you turn the boards tghe pattern inside can be anything you like (on a diagonal grid that is)

you nailed it. no realy. I think you just nailed it.

That's what a sci-fi board should look like, and avoiding repeating patterns of doom.

The angled texture also has the bonus of making it more compatible with the grid.

ok so Dave, tempted us =D. We messed around a bit. We will post our design tomorrow.

But we had allot of fun with Dave's work. Thank you!!

Here is a 12" by 12"



A 2by2




Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DaveC wrote:
Turns out the best way to make it asymmetrical is to go diagonally

Now this crudely knocked together but you get the idea so long as you follow the red cardinal points everything lines up no matter what way you turn the boards tghe pattern inside can be anything you like (on a diagonal grid that is)

Spot on!! Should have something like this tomorrow. Thanks Dave!! You have nailed it!


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With Permission of course we are going to have to call it the "Dakka Dakka battle board" with an honorable mention to Dave C. With hopeful success. We need hopefully a 100 posts stating " I will pledge for this battle board."

For the community & by the community for sure.

That squar one you came up with isn't bad either.

But square or diagonal count me in on one.

Yes we think it is diagonal all the way =). We do like the square though. But we think diagonal is for the win!

The diagonal seems like it will fit for the most game systems. I could see a Infintiy or Necromunda board useing tiles like that. It seems like it would work for the most game settings.

Throw the square grid sheet over it, and now you have a alt space hulk board to boot.

When it comes to the textures, I would sujest drawing inspiration from Natural Selection 2.




You will notice they keep the textures "clean" but use variations in the pattens to break it up, and stop it from looking to uniform.

I think all these suggestions should help to produce a fantastic looking board! Whatever you do, don't rush the design, we are at the slow part in the kickstarter right now but you still have ages to draw up a good looking board.

Liking the diagonal designs, they really help break it up a lot more and Lockark's pics are perfect. I understand that it is hard to design an infinitely large board using only one flat surface but I think you can do it!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and I am not really understanding the point of the stretch goals. Do we really need 12 of the gaming trays? I know I wouldn't use any of them as I would use the table for a purely display purpose! Maybe it is different for the wargamers out there?

Diagonal is the way forward it not only creates great variation on the board, but for Infinity at least, it creates great dynamic on the games too.

Something I just realized. Takeing these Sci-Fi boards and kitbashing them with pegasus Hobbies gothic buildings for walls, you could make your own "Zone Moralist" board.

£350 to get 4 1'x1' tiles to make a single 2'x2' board.

It's only £40 to get 4 1'x1' games and gears boards to make a 2'x2' table. Even after factoring in the cost to get two or three of the pegasus Hobbies buildings, this is a MUCH cheaper alternative to the forge world board.

yeah,

I like some of daves tiles but I think there are too many tiles per board, I think in gaming terms each 'tile' should hold a 40mm base - making it compatable with space hulk.
I made this design at work in microsoft paint. I would increase the size of each 'tile' to 2" so that in a 1'x1' board you have a 6x6 grid of tile. So that this matches with FW mortalis system.
In the image above i've placed 4 tiles next to each other with some rotation, the green lines mark out the 6x6 tile.
If you have a few minor details like the 'hatch/panel' the tile can pretty much be rotated to space these out.
This board was designed with asymetrical tiles to be asymetrical but look symetrical, so when you rotate the create another minor variation.

 DaveC wrote:
Yeah must admit I like where your going with that last suggestion Games and Gears add some textures and details to it but don't overly complicate the design keep it simple - one thing that becomes obvious with the 12x12 1" inch squares is that it's very repetitive very quickly.

agreed
I think larger squares will work better and keeping details non imposing is important.
While it would be easy to put a thunderbolt logo on that hatch kinda thing, when you grid up people will quickly keep spotting it!
'theres the great big thunderbolt generator tile! there it is again, and again.' If it was just a blank electrical looking box/hatch/panel, it can be left blank or painted with a hazzard sign/ escape hatch 4 / or a thunderbolt... you know if thunerbolts are important...

GamesNGears wrote:How about this?

This! with more squares and some angle squares like what dave has in this photo.

 DaveC wrote:

One last one to throw in the mix as this has irregular tiled patterns and they aren't all square/rectangular don't know why I didn't remember it before!

Spoiler:

I assume you mean the pattern under the main art?
if so YES!
That is exactly the kinda tileing I want on a sci fi board that can be used for lots of game like X-wing and 40k.
it can be painted as metal for space ship hull, or stone for a future plaza..

I'll mess about with this kinda design and see if I can add anything...

Panic..

Dear Panic,

Awesome stuff!! Thank you for your amazing efforts. We do want to do a battle board like that for sure. Your support and communities has been fantastic and also very humbling. Thanks.

The diagonal angle seems for us to make sense and for the hybrid boards to go with the rest of the range. Also it seems to be open for more game systems & environment settings.

The space hulk board is a must for us to do at some point. At the same time taking on your suggestion adding a few different panels to avoid the repetition and also making it look like a Games & Gears Battle Board as opposed others, whilst drawing inspiration from good works.

Cheers.

yeah,
cool.
The having the design at a angle is something I'd disagree with.
Having the pattern oppose the tiles edges diagonally just means the square edges of the tile will appear as a overlayed grid ontop of the boards pattern.
Having the pattern follow the tiles verticaly and horrizontally means the square edges of the tile is an unavoidable part of the pattern.

Panic...

Hmm, you do have a point there Panic. I like that pic you posted above as well, the texture around the tiles is interesting enough without being too overpowering provided they were made big enough.

.

We are also torn between the two designs we have been working on, mostly because it is allot of fun. We do enjoy this stuff.

But I think we have a solution as manufacturers we are a bit more flexible.

We will publish a diagonal angle design. Once and hopefully if we reach 100k GBP about 900 pledges roughly. We will unlock the "Panic" aka space hulk battle board (will find a better suited name later). That way you get 3 sci fi battle boards which we can hybrid together with the rest.

Thanks!!

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
I fill the main issue is the 1 tile configuration, an interesting board needs more than a single tile, yes on some environments it may work, the sand board works well alone, the cracked earth and stonework will work well as an RPG dungeon map for combat, but the wargames need more variety, this a single tile will not be really easy to provide.

I think the average wargamer will look at what terrain is available and how it can combine it with the board to see if the board is good, admittedly I did that for Infinity, I have 3 ranges I could use Microarts, Warmills and Sarrissa (and there are 3 new forming lines and they are close to microarts), from the 3 Microart do not fit in any of the boards they are an sci fi urban line and look out of the blue in all suggested boards, the cracked earth board and the sand board would look good for the pod colony out in the badlands Warmill and Sarisa have and this is what I had and still have in mind when I pledged, while I would be ecstatic for a sci fi urban board to be frank, still I do plan on getting the pods so I do look forward to the cracked earth and sand and the hibreed of the two.

So to get my thoughts a bit more coherent, all tiles so far minus the sci fi one have a merit for rpg players if they are up to paying for a tile and a hex grid over it, should be easy to recreate many encounters.

For the wargamer, in my opinion, the sand board is blunt but good, the cracked earth is the same, the urban war can only be useful in a medieval town setting, I am not sure how the sci fi tile can be used, I mean alone as part of a bigger setup looks good like a landing pad, a door to an underground complex, an elevator, but a whole board of them?

I believe for a wargamer board, a single tile configuration may not cut it, maybe this is why it moves a bit slow and it is a shame this is the most honest and upfront kickstarter I have seen and the potential it carries under it, is tremendous.

I am not sure I can offer advice, I understand the single tile configuration, tooling is expensive, putting all eggs in one basket and making a single board comprising of multiple tiles instead of 4-5 different tiles that can be used to make 4-5 different boards is risky and hitting a broader audience is more logical.

I also understand why you want to show only complete and available boards and not concept art for not yet to be realized tiles.

Maybe different streachgoals and structure?
if we reach X we will produce Y themed board (comprising of Z number of different tiles) and next 3 streachgoals be for unlocking more tiles for said board?

For example X unlocks wasteland board (3 tiles 1 small cracked earth, 1 large cracked earth, 1 plateau cracked earth) and the next 3 stretch goals enhance it with one tile each, maybe a "carved" crack earth straight that could be used as a road or a river or a lava river, a similar but turn and a raised tile? next be the naval board with 3 tiles sea tile a sea tile b sea tile with small island(s)?

I don't know I hadn't given it much thought before and these are just the ideas that came to my mind and I must agree its riskier than the single tile approach.

Good post, and some of the thoughts put out in it are what have kept me from jumping into this kickstarter.

For me the whole point of modular tiles is to have variation in set up. I can buy a 4ft square desert mat that is pretty nice for less than the desert/regular tiles sold here and have the same effect. I can buy a really nice sea or space mat already. What is the point of tiles if they are all the same? It ends up serving the purpose of an mat but costing more.

Look at the GW set, each tile is different and they can be set up in a variety of ways. That is cool. The changes in elevation organic to the boards makes them a very cool alternative to a flat mat.

This project, so far, just doesn't grab me. I want to like it, I want to support it, but just can't at this point. Urban tiles with raised roads and sidewalks would be cool. Some with roads straight through, some with turns, intersections and junctions, where having a bunch of them would allow a variety of lay outs would rock. Then add cratered and rubble versions for even more variety. Desert/ground ones could have ditches/streams, slight hills and so on.

Just my dos centavos.

Jake

Dear Jake,

Allot of what you mentioned is in the works for later releases. We installed the hybrid battle boards for a bit of that. As mentioned here we do have different tier designs. But before we jump into multiple designs, we do need to get our core lines out first. Games & Gears gaming boards are for the long term investment. We hope in the months and years to come. You have multiple environments and choices to choose from in the same range.

But we can only do it step by step with your help. That is why we are kickstarting it .

Thanks!!!

GamesNGears wrote:
Dear Jake,

Allot of what you mentioned is in the works for later releases. We installed the hybrid battle boards for a bit of that. As mentioned here we do have different tier designs. But before we jump into multiple designs, we do need to get our core lines out first. Games & Gears gaming boards are for the long term investment. We hope in the months and years to come. You have multiple environments and choices to choose from in the same range.

But we can only do it step by step with your help. That is why we are kickstarting it .

Thanks!!!

I guess I just can't get motivated to buy a bunch of identicle boards which offer no real advantage (to me) over a gaming mat in the hopes that eventually you do make something I can use.

If the kickstarter was for modular boards allowing a variety of lay out options I would be all over it.

I hope it works out for you.

Jake

yeah,
I'm impressed! by this project so far.
I want this project to Succeed, I have faith because Games n Gears are listening to their customer base.
So I've just backed them for a 6x4 board.
Right now I think I'll be ordering cracked earth and urban war tiles mixed board! plus the hybrids to enable mixing.

I'll probabily increase my pledge because once I see them I'll probabily also want 4'x4' of the space hulk board and 4' x 4' of a scifi/X-wing/deathstar/40k surface compatible board .

Plus I Love converting stuff and I'm already working out a way to dig trenches into the 2cm depth of these boards!...
I'm gonna need more!

Panic...

Noted with thanks Jake.

We will get there. Our kickstarter is just the beginning in bringing worlds together for all to battle on.
Cheers!