PixelBlock Art

Wait, what's the plural of Samus?  Samus'?  Samuses?  Samuii? Whooooooooo boy has it been a while.  I think there were digital cobwebs and dust on these authoring tools I had to clear off.  Hey there! It's been a while.  I've been busy with Real Life Stuff™. Still employed by a certain fruit-themed technology company (we're very small I doubt you've ever heard of us) but in a new position that doesn't give me a ton  of time to work on PixelBlock stuff, but I'm thinking real hard about getting back into the biz. Anyway. I had an itch to scratch, so I did the things and am writing this post.  Back when I first started doing this, I had priced out the cost of PixelBlocks vs. LEGO, for a few reasons: LEGO obviously will survive us all.  Our great great great great cyber-grandoffspring will be playing with LEGO that will still fit on bricks centuries old.  PixelBlocks... might be dead any day now if they aren't already, but...

Battletoad , originally uploaded by dash16 . Another co-worker request. I chose Rash from Battletoads. I picked a cool pose, but unfortunately it wasn't able to stand up on its own in the real world. Way too top heavy, didn't balance and the leg was very skinny so it was floppy too. I stood it up against my iMac and another monitor, snapped the picture, then took him apart for parts.

Luigi - Red Shell , originally uploaded by dash16 . Forgot to post this to the blog when I made it.

Cape Mario - Case , originally uploaded by dash16 . So, I've been experimenting with creating a display case for my PixelBlocks creations. Ideally, the case will have two purposes: One, to protect the piece while it ships through the mail, and Two, to serve as a frame for displaying it. It has to be clear plastic, to let light through, yet firm enough to stand up on its own. I like how this turned out, and best of all it was cheap. The screws and bolts and washers were $2, and the plastic sheets were $2.50. I think I'm going to drill more holes, for a total of 8 all the way around so it is really well contained. As it stands, the plastic bows out a bit because the corners are tightened down, and I think if I put 4 more holes in the middle, between each corner it should really hold it in place. It's either that or some beads of hot glue in the corners of the piece. We'll see, I'm going to take it home with me and play around with it some more. I know ...

IMG_0275.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . ***WARNING: GEEKY HISTORY BELOW*** At the end of Metroid 2, after successfully exterminating every Metroid (including their queen) on SR-388, Samus found a hatchling Metroid. The hatchling thought Samus its mother, and Samus couldn't bring herself to destroy it so she brought the hatchling to Ceres space station for Federation research. This sets the events for Super Metroid, in which Ridley attacks Ceres station and steals the hatchling for Mother Brain, who sets the baby loose in Tourian to feast on the most powerful enemies in the game. Samus encounters Metroids again on her way to defeat Mother Brain. The Metroids must have been cloned from the baby Metroid, and are weak to the normal method of freeze and blast with a missile. The baby Metroid however, has grown 3-4 times the size of normal Metroids and is apparently invulnerable to Samus' weapons. The baby attacks Samus and drains her within 1 energy unit of death w...

IMG_0212.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . I never tire of building Samus pixelblocks art.

IMG_0194.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . I recently retired the Chronotrigger cast from the top of my desk, and am replacing it with a Super Metroid themed one. This is a normal metroid from Super Metroid, found in Tourian on the approach to Mother Brain.

IMG_0113.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . Kefka is the super villain from Final Fantasy 6. At one point in the game he uses powerful magic to rearrange the world to his liking, rending continents, moving cities, destroying a lot.

IMG_0117.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . Robo is a robot from Chrono Trigger's dystopian future. He and Lucca are bestest friends.

IMG_0115.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . Lucca as well is from Chrono Trigger. She's the "Velma" of the group.

IMG_0114.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . I've been on something of a Chrono Trigger kick lately, even started playing the game again on BSNES on my MacBook. Marle is princess Nadia in disguise, who gets sent through a time gate and unwittingly removed herself from the timeline by accidentally impersonating her great-great-great grandma.

IMG_0112.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . Frog is also from Chrono Trigger. He wields the Masamune, a powerful magic sword. Originally he was a man, but cursed and changed into a frog by Magus.

IMG_0111.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . Chronotrigger was one of the best RPGs on the SNES. Maybe one of the best RPGs of all time. It had everything, awesome story, great gameplay, memorable characters (including the bad guy turned good), and something like 16 different endings depending on what you did, who you saved, etc. The main character, Chrono, actually DIES in the game! You have the option of saving him (which you should), but it is an OPTION. Not needed to beat the game. Chronotrigger and Final Fantasy 6. If you like RPGs and haven't played these 2, turn in your gamer card, you fail.

IMG_0106.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . This is a green Koopa Troopa from Super Mario World. Green shells swallowed by Yoshi when spit back out stay as shells. Red shells turn into fireballs. Yellow shells allow Yoshi to stomp really hard and defeat some enemies without even touching them. Blue shells allow Yoshi to fly.

IMG_0107.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . This is Mario and Yoshi from Super Mario World. It's hard to belive this game came out 17 years ago...

100_4803.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . I decided that if I did the upgraded Mega Man X (armor, boots, helmet, and gun) I wouldn't need dark blue blocks. I like how it turned out. I am however out of black blocks again, and will need to take apart Zero or Mega Man X to make anything new. An eternal problem, this short supply of black. Must acquire more.

IMG_0080.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . Zero was my favorite character from the Mega Man X series. I was really stoked to see they'd be making Mega Man Zero games, and have all three of them. They are super hard. I plan on making Mega Man X as well, just need dark blue blocks.

104_4799.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . I redid Samus in a different pose with some of the new colors I got. Again, harder to see some of the darker colors now without backlight... I need to come up with a good way to display these. Check the little Samus on the screen in the background, thats the digital bitmap I went off to build the physical model.

IMG_0075.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . I got some more colors and the first thing I built was Link from one of the best Zeldas ever, A Link to the Past. Some of the darker colors are hard to see without backlight, hence my MacBook in the background instead of the desk I've been photographing them on.

IMG_0052.JPG , originally uploaded by dash16 . One of my favorite games for the Super Nintendo was Super Mario Kart. Yoshi wasn't my favorite racer, that would be Koopa Troopa (not to be confused with King Koopa, Bowser).