The Veteran Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Ok so since my return I've been asking strange things about strange things but the real reason I came back this time actually just plain IS XCom. I found myself with a slight case of Sectoid Withdrawl and I'm sick of having to turn to DOSBOX and other various emulators to get it working. So today I took delivery of my new, old laptop!!! https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs042.snc6/167242_10150125336911763_626026762_7672556_789211_n.jpg It's an old Time 2000 laptop and while it is fairly basic it is far more advanced than I was hoping for and even comes with Win 98 already installed! I aim to make this my retro platform and will at some point be installing a Win95 partition too for even less compatible games! As far as success goes it's a bargain so far, everything works and for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Back again, and sooner than expected! Been a busy bee today and thought I'd share the fruits of my labour! Well more like a bud of light toiling at the moment but consider it a teaser I'm still not going to tell you what I'm doing but you can't be many clues away from guessing now so go ahead and take a shot! This be me wood! I believe this image is of 81 3x1mm strips cut to a length of 20mm. At a guess https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs062.snc6/167216_10150125336936763_626026762_7672558_7350846_n.jpg And this is what I've just finished making from it!https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs750.ash1/164180_10150125484576763_626026762_7673977_6162507_n.jpg This is actually one of the easiest things I've got to do so it gets a bit more tricky from here on out. Nevertheless I should have pics up tomorrow that will be a total giveaway to anyone with half a brain lol Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Oh no. If anyone knows where he lives, stop him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 The left side of my rain is saying this man's off the deep end. My right side of my brain is cheering for him. Little toothpicks and if you can find green sponge material would make nice grass hedge and the orchards. I'd recommend cotton wool, but it loses its fluffiness when painted. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Well done lads told you it'd soon be a bit of a giveaway And don't worry I'm not going to go so far as to wargame my way through the whole game. I just need a few select pieces of scenery and I've chosen to go with the farm tileset as the most common and stereo-typical UFO crash site mission. Wait a minute did he just say ufo crash site?! EDIT : Seeing as I got further than expected tonight I'll let you have the next one now! And for those interested this is about 1/100 scale Here she is with the walls up but I'm yet to decide on how to decorate it. Looks a lot better up close than in these crappy pics https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs783.ash1/167307_10150125591496763_626026762_7675271_1466112_n.jpgAnd here's an unpolished sneak of how the roof may look. But it'll be mounted lengthways to make it look less like a badly built lego house...https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs259.snc6/180729_10150125591546763_626026762_7675272_8113488_n.jpg Before someone says it, I know 2 of the walls should be brick but that's stupid. Noone would ever do that. The most logical explanation for the dividing walls and large exit would be a stable but it's way too small so my money is on a wood/coal/grain/feed/whatever store. Not sure if it's very consequential as it probably won't get much more interior detailing. I'm going to spruce up the ingame sprites where I can but want to stay as loyal as possible with the end result... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 You're gonna build a farm then throw a "UFO" at it...? It's an old Time 2000 laptop and while it is fairly basic it is far more advanced than I was hoping for and even comes with Win 98 already installed! I aim to make this my retro platform and will at some point be installing a Win95 partition too for even less compatible games!Don't bother with '95, it won't run anything '98 won't (though it might crash a bit more often). Both offer a "real" DOS mode for those especially picky games, but avoid it if you can; Windows mode gives you write-back caching from the word go, which grants a lovely speed boost when performing game saves and so on, and you don't have to worry about your 640kb of conventional memory bottoming out all the time. 9x had incredible performance in terms of backwards compatibility, the only thing it couldn't really account for was CPU speed (some games simply expected a much slower processor), but that wasn't an OS issue in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Cheers BB, maybe I'll just stick with 98 then. I always have 95 on cd if I need it but XCom was the lappy's main job and it's pulled it off beautifully so who am I to argue with results! Bit of trivia here. Although I've got through uncountable numbers of desktop PCs in my years this is the first laptop I've ever owned :o Remember that little gem on pub quiz night lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 98 is what I'd go for an old game machine as well, but there might be some exceptions. I've got a copy of Interstate '76, which is fine on 98 and above, but its installer can't handle anything but pure 95. Makes it a difficult game to play on a casual basis! But I guess that probably won't be the case with many other titles. - NKF P. S: Get yourself an external mouse or if you need to be mobile, a trackball. Those trigger types that loop around your index finger are quite nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Cheers NKF, I will be keeping the touchpad but yes I'll definitely get an external mouse too. Having a bit of trouble with the old lappy at the moment though. After I played my first game of Xcom on it some bits fell off...https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs760.ash1/165151_10150125390896763_626026762_7673162_3055600_n.jpgThen everything else fell off too :ohttps://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs275.snc6/180310_10150125391041763_626026762_7673165_7192672_n.jpg How very strange... But then this is my first laptop, maybe that's normal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Congratulations; this is without a doubt a most excellent (if ever-so-mildly deranged) venture. :: I spy, with my little eye... a nice UFO floorplan primer in that last pic, by the way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 haha you aint seen nothin yet Thor lol Done a little structural reinforcement on the small barn today as the walls were ever so slightly warped. Put three braces across the top which now keep the width uniform and allow the corrugated roofing to sit nicely (and realistically which is a large part of what I'm aiming for)https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs077.snc6/168740_10150125812576763_626026762_7678389_6373073_n.jpg Much better pic quality today I'm pleased to say and it looks a lot closer to it's actual detail in this one than it has to date. Unfortunately I'm limited to an average quality webcam so they won't be getting better any time soon I'm afraid My current job is the flooring for the small barn and although in the game it's simply dirt I have an excess of real stone facing slips which are for use elsewhere so I'm going to make a slab floor in here. I have a template and have started breaking the stone up into smaller pieces now to suit the scale. I'll glue them down to a thin cardboard base then fill the gaps with something to resemble soil. It's only a barn after all...https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs780.ash1/167031_10150125812541763_626026762_7678388_5553914_n.jpg I find it a little unfortunate that a lot of this work will be invisible with the rood on but here's a pic of it in a near final state with no decoration or detailing and you can make out the partitions from the right angle. Nicely understated I think https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs268.snc6/179613_10150125812521763_626026762_7678386_7174861_n.jpg As a final shot, here's what I'll be working on next. After the slabs are down that is...https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs055.snc6/168591_10150125337016763_626026762_7672561_4560617_n.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 And another update! I'm becoming increasingly annoyed that all this interior detail will be so heavily hidden once my work here is done...Here are some shots of my new stone floor though anyway. I was going tojust pave the whole area as a square and place the structure directly on top of the blocks but my conscience caught up with me and told me to put in the extra effort so I'd be completely happy with the end result Hence here I am approximately 2 hours of work and a very stiff back later!https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1396.snc4/164894_10150125866836763_626026762_7678997_4002130_n.jpgRemember this floor is about 80mmx40mm so those are pretty small slabs all broken up and shaped by hand!https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs794.ash1/168493_10150125866856763_626026762_7678999_4905664_n.jpghttps://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs070.snc6/168018_10150125866896763_626026762_7679000_1840648_n.jpg Final job for this barn is to get hold of a suitable paint/stain/varnish for the wood and then fill in the gaps in the stonework with something resembling soil. The final positioning of the walls won't be as it is in these images as the slabs are 3 mm thick so the walls will be extended by 3mm with a running foundation and then placed Can someone find me some images of the farm tileset please? I know what it looks like from references I already have but if someone with an editor can post up images of each level of this structure and the farmhouse (not the barn) that's be beautiful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Strike Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Veteran, a few things. First, nice stable there. Looks awesome so far. At least that's what I call that building. Second, '95 and '98 are both unstable, for the most part. Later versions of '95 are a little more stable, but not 100%. However, '98SE is your best bet for stability. As far as the laptop physically falling apart, it could be that it has been taken apart many times, screws were lost, and quite possibly used different screws to put it back together. Ah well, that isn't a bad thing, just probably working on things, before you bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Thanks Sarge, I have to agree, it ought to be a stable but the size just doesn't work imo Anyway as far as OSs go I'll obviously not be doing anything about that until it all gets put back together but I have a few more (read-lots more) things to do before I'm ready for that! Coincidentally I was looking at the screen today and wondering why that hadn't fallen apart when suddenly!https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs742.ash1/163449_10150125932396763_626026762_7680015_1714799_n.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunflash Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 You realize you must have a step-by-step instruction for this if it works, right? Because otherwise I will hunt you down and beat you with a floater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Haha no worries Sunflash I have enough pictures to make you a manual when it's all finished and I've found some great suppliers for small scale modelling bitz Going to pick up some quick-drying glue tomorrow and start on the brickwork. I expect this will be by far the most time-consuming aspect of the build so wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 I never would've thought to do the brickwork literally brick by brick. I'd probably have gone with sheet styrene and etch the brickwork, rough it over with high grit sandpaper and paint it over with a mix of orange/red and later Tamiya clear smoke paint. Alternately, the cheap way, print brick wallpaper and stick it onto the styrene. If you're worried about the interior being hidden once the house is done, why not make the roof a detachable lid so that you can show off the interior? - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am toying with the possibility NKF but the small shed I'm working on right now will almost certainly be a solid structure. It has a few windows and that big door though so it's not so bad. As for the big one, I'm doing it brick by brick cos I'm a nutcase like that But also because it's going to be battle damaged later so a section of brickwork will be somewhat haggard. I figure the only way to do that and make it look good will be to build it brick by brick so that's what I'm doing! Turns out though it's only going to take about 640 bricks for the whole building and I have 1000 so I don't know what else I can build I'm going to cheat slightly as when I was writing up my wishlist I though both the barn and the farmhouse were brick on the groundfloor and wood on the first floor. Based on the price of the little bricks I decided to stick with the original plan even though in-game the farmhouse is all brick with wooden interior walls. Either way this will be a pretty big job. I'm going to need to lay 2mm foundations for the ground floor due to the thickness of the slabs I'm using for the floor (something I didn't realise when doing the smaller building!) and then I'll do the floor itself before I start building up the other 10 layers of brickwork! I've already made the interior walls up so then I can fit them, build the stairs and brace the structure for the next layer of floorboards which will of course be individually laid from a 4x0.5mm planking Then I need to make the wood for the top floor which is about 46cm of wall and decide whether or not I really want that stupid set of stairs onto the roof. I'm thinking it's a bit pointless really so I may leave them out but we'll see. Anyway I'm off out with the missus shortly to collect her new car so I'll get glue at the same time That means I can easily get the foundations and walls finished before my holiday which will take me away from all my toys for almost a week from tuesday-sunday gasp! Plenty of time till tuesday though as I made the small barn in less than 1 full day really so should be able to make pretty good progress on the farmhouse by then and I do have one more thing to build too which I've barely started as it'll be the hardest of them all!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Late post tonight but been a fairly uneventful day due to real life getting in the way of my increasingly crazy projects Measured up a template today and laid the first lot of bricks down. Because the stone paving I've uased for the floor is 2-3mm thick and the bricks are only 1mm deep I'm laying 2 rows extra on the outside and internally I've laid them on their sides to give me 2mm risers under where the wooden walls will go. This will allow me to fit the wooden partitions later and use their tops to establish the maximum height of the ground floor without losing any headroom. (Sideways bricks not shown in this pic but their future locations are)https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs038.snc6/166823_10150126717201763_626026762_7694247_4476142_n.jpg Managed to get on with the flooring but it's been taking a lot longer with this one as I haven't been happy with it for the most part. Slabs are too big, too small, too regular, too irregular, blah blah... I also took a pause to consider the stairs and although it differs from the in-game versions I think I'm going to build a brick wall to support the free-standing side of them and use the wooden internal wall for the other side. I'll pave the large area before placing the stairs so this will be the only place where the brickwork is built on top of the floor rather than the floor being constructed around the walls as it is elsewhere. My reasoning is that I don't think the stairs are an original feature of this building. Remember I'm making the ground floor in brick and then upstairs from wood so I think it's safe to assume the first floor is a later addition and therefore the floor was already laid when the stairs were built https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1389.snc4/164174_10150126717241763_626026762_7694248_5308500_n.jpg Will get the rest of the paving finished tomorrow and hopefully at least one more layer of bricks as that'll be the foundations finished. May also build up the stairs and whatever internal walls I can without the brickwork being complete. Then it'll be left for a week till I get back from my hols! Will post again before I leave which will hopefully show off some nice stairs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 "The dangerous escape of the bricklayer!" The perfectionist inside tends to always catch up, doesn't it? :: Keep up the good work, V! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 It certainly does Thor!!! I can be particularly anal sometimes, especially with stuff like this, so everything has to be just so. I'm sat finishing off the paving now and honestly it fels good to have had a break from it as is often the case! I'm on my own for the rest of the day now with no woman or child till 7pm which will also help speed things along but I do have to do the housework between now and then. I'm sure I won't get too wrapped up in what I'm doing to miss 9 hours of the day though... Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Ok probably one of my last posts before the holidays commence but here as promised in a final picture of the floors. That means I'm finished paving woohoo!!! I haven't done anything with the stairs or brickwork as it occurs to me that I need to fill the gaps in the floor before I do so. I'm visitng family who happen to live by a great model shop so I'll certainly be stopping in there and should come out with enough dirt and grass to easily satisfy me but we'll see soon!!! Anyway, pics follow, feedback please! I've stayed as loyal as possible to the game, only minor deviations currently are the brick walls of the small shed are wood, the dirt floor is stone and I'm making the first floor of the large building from wood instead of stone as intended. Can't think of anything else but I am currently debating whether or not to include the redundant second set of stairs in the big barn... In real-terms they lack any kind of function, no farmer ever wants to climb on their roof (or if they did a ladder would suffice) plus it provides easy access for rainwater, animals and other adverse conditions all year round. Give me your thoughts please, should I stay purist and be loyal to the games redundant stairs or be sinsible and leave them out?https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs036.snc6/166675_10150127005456763_626026762_7699092_5118508_n.jpg https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs262.snc6/179061_10150127005471763_626026762_7699093_7541580_n.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 This isa) seriously coolb) a fully destructible terrain! https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/Smiley/evil4.gif https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/Smiley/xtreme.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Thanks SV! And that's more true than you know The reason I'm building it from real components is so it actually IS destructible! Not fully though I hope or I'll have wasted a lot of time for nothing lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 This is amazing Vet, no two ways about it, however I'm a little worried the layers of bricks are going to be a bit uneven as you add more layers depending on how much time you take on each and every brick and how much glue is used. You could go insane on this one. In fact, a real-life sized version may end up being less of an undertaking than the model version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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