The Bazaar Finished & May Poll Results
Added 2024-04-19 18:33:51 +0000 UTCHi everybody,
the title says it! The Bazaar is finished & uploaded.
The renders will show what's in the set more than words, but a these are a few of them on its content. The set is made of four parts:
- Bazaar modular OpenLOCK structure. You can see a few simple builds and slightly more complex ones in the renders (as well as instructions to make all of them!). These are just a few building options, since this set has complete exteriors and interiors. You can make anything from middle eastern style towers, oasis Bazaars, small houses, temples even, and so on. Basically, I think this is a solid set to start creating locations for any middle eastern inspired setting.
All the tiles have a split options for playability (where it matters), and there are a few extra structural objects to make the buildings work (e.g. doors, stairs, domes, etc..).
- Forge Objects and Props. While planning the smaller details of the release I was thinking what would make a combat encounter in a fantasy Bazaar fun for players. The image of a lit forge came to mind, where carpets and spice could end up to cause mayhem, as well as random weapons to throw around! I got carried away when designing the set, and it ended up with a lot of options in it, and hopefully a lot of value. The forge gives a different vibe to your usual smith, while the shields, for example, can be glued to the parapets to make a garrison tower or military building! I also updated older hammers and tools with new and more detailed textures :)
- Carpets, Spice, Vases Objects and Props. These are the heart of the release: a good furnishing for Bazaars. A spice seller table, folded and flat carpets, vases of many kind, etc... They can be combined with other sets to make an even more varied location. I suggest printing more than less to give the iconic "crammed Bazaar" vibe :) Of curse, these can be used in any town shop and in most houses/mansions.
- Lion statues. Not much to say here: they are lions, or winged celestial lions. I went for a worn out sandstone look, and really like them. I can envision row of them at the side of a road that leads to a temple or something like the main gate of a city!
Finally, the results of the poll for the theme of the release of May are in: the Siege Tower wins! I am very excited to work on that set since I have had plans ready for it for a while. I want to make a ram and a catapult as well as rework some of Castle Wyrthstolt's walls as a small extra that can be besieged. We shall see what ends up in the set :) That said, the Temple of Flowing Sand and HELL! where very close, we'll see if they are chosen next :D
Thanks A LOT for the support. These months have proven very busy and slow, and it is your ongoing support that makes finishing these projects possible!
I'll be back before the end of the month with a few WIPs on the tower and the next poll.
I wish you a happy hobby time! :D
Comments
Thanks for the feedback, and I really mean it. I am sorry the set was not up to your expectations, and I want to explain a bit why it came to be as it is. Basically, when I design a set I start from the largest part - the OpenLOCK structure promised, in this case - and I work down from there so that I have a location where to put other details in. Since the process is very creative rather than planned (in other words: not precisely organized) some parts can take more time than expected, other parts can take less (which is much rarer), and some elements can end up cut - see the Camels for this month! I tried with planning strictly a few times but I find that stuff comes out more standardized and less interesting that way, and it doesn't give me enough time to explore weird options. This is why sometimes a release starts with a vibe/name (e.g. "the Oasis") and ends up with a slightly different one (e.g. "the Bazaar"), because I find it more fitting to what the end result is going to be. Obviously, when I publish a release I think it is faithful enough to the original idea/poll entry that you can use it to stage that location at your table. Since the poll entry is very vague, though (more on that below), it can, as in this case, not meet people's expectations. I do think that you can build a sprawling middle eastern market with this set, with infinite shops close together bursting with a variety of goods - as many as I could make in the limits of time that one month is for a release at least - but this bring the next point. I think part of this misunderstanding is caused by my use of the word Bazaar to the described the project while imagining something more like a Souq - specifically the Souq in Jerusalem, where I have been once and that remained in my mind as an unspoken reference. That Souq feels like a web of small alleys/roads where houses and shops stand close together, with goods in sight and buildings crammed together. That is what I aimed at, and although the renders show just a small square in that ideal space, it is location that you can definitely create with this release. I avoided cramming the buildings together too much just for visibility purposes for online presentation. Finally, I have been trying for a while to give pictures to the poll entries, to show at least a significant part of each project before voting. This would make choosing a location easier and clearer, but that means having an array of projects at least ready to render (which is just one of the first steps when you count preparing for printing and testing), and I just couldn't catch up to that point. I don't think any other creator does it that way (since it is very time expensive), but I really wish to get there sometime, so that this kind of mismatch between projects and expectations does not arise! This is not a promise, but it is something that I have in mind. Thanks again for the feedback and for taking the time to elaborate it, and I really mean it: it is not empty creator formality. Although the first reaction to this kind of feedback and criticism can be daunting, I think I understand your point, since you explained it well and thoroughly. I think this will help a lot in coming releases. Also, thanks a lot for the intense, motivating words. I hope this clarifies things a bit!
Making Tlon
2024-04-21 09:42:34 +0000 UTCYeah, the wood awnings without cloth are coming :) I'll also make the empty baskets. I am not sure the placeable "inside" will work separated since it is very a small detail, but let's see!
Making Tlon
2024-04-21 08:47:37 +0000 UTCGot to admit, I was expecting (and hoping for) a haphazard collection of tented stalls.
Mark Croker
2024-04-20 00:18:16 +0000 UTCVery nice.
Spielweltenschmiede
2024-04-19 22:41:50 +0000 UTCWhat happened to the Bazar/open air market part? The stalls and tables to fill a town square or market area/district? An outside area that we can use for large play space? I'm bummed man. Of course it's technically beautiful and a wonderful sculpt but there is no arcade or sprawling outdoor stalls or anything. Just another building to be considered against all other buildings out there that serve the same function by other creators. I'm not just being negative to be negative. I am a huge fan of your work and it just depressed me that artists doing this for a living play it so safe and don't take any risks anymore with their art. I joined in supporting you because I thought you were different: with your huge sculpts and playable peices of art created with care and detail. But right now I just see a couple middle eastern buildings, although well done, do not add anything new to the space and medium. I am sorry if this seems that I'm just complaining. The truth is a lot of people don't like confrontations but I pegged you and a grown man who can hear these things, process them, and then come back with an assurance or an explanation regarding the issue specifically and not personally. I am honestly not trying to start an argument or tear you down. I am not going anywhere, I still support you financially and in spirit, but I am being honest with my opinion whether you or anyone else agrees or not. I hope you can understand that and I hope this is a place someone can share their true feelings and opinions without fear of reprisal or petty retaliation. I'm not saying you're lazy or untalented or the sculpts "suck." I am saying you're playing it safe and I expected more from you and I guess I felt let down a bit. As cliche as it is to say, "I thought you were different." There are too many artists out there now making the same shit as everyone else, in theme and executions, and people are simply picking an artist and sticking with it. I only entertain realism in the art that I take the time and money to support, purchase, and then print to use in my own work. You are amazing at this as there's not a hint of idealism in your work which makes you a diamond in a mountain of coal in this space. And please know that I do treat what you do as your artistic "work," your art, a piece of a set or collection in a running series by theme or design. I take your work seriously. It's playable fine art sir, and you excel at it. However, I feel that there's nothing new here and too many creators are resting on their laurels or playing it safe and turn to a business plan of what they will churn out or time gate to schedule things to happen much later and in a strategic order as to maximize retention and revenue so they can reach whatever KPIs they're trying to go for. Shit like that. Choking the value produced and provided to the customer intentionally just to wring out as much cash as possible. Forgetting what got them there are the very people they have slowly turned on and conned into accepting less real unique art for more money. I understand if you become a big business at this, which I assume it is just you and act as a solo designer, that you have to do that. But that means that the smaller guys have the room and the impetus to take risks that the bigger guys don't. They must to stand out and compete in that space to plant their flag and try to shatter the world with their art and to make a statement; whatever that is. What I see here is you playing it safe and I, and please take the the right way, expect more from you because I think you can do more. I need you to do more. I know you can do more and I bet so do you. While it may be a moot issue now, as before when we spoke and I provided tons of reference images during our back and forth and I was only trying to prodovide every benefit of what limited knowledge I had of the subject. I have found the issue of references are at their best even if they are there just to insert opportunities and possibilities into the creative process to gleem something to find an unique approach or angle that will make the work stand out and, hopefully, become exceptional. I deal in this traffic every day so my gesture was purely benevolent. In that same spirit and to clarify my suggestions (which is is your right to completely reject and ignore as you don't owe me or any of us anything in reality when it comes down to it), here is a final example (link below) of what I thought we discussed and you were interested in doing. But please, know that the intent of this conversation isn't just to get what I want and that I am throwing a tantrum or the like. I've resigned to what you've produced. But that's the problem. I, and others for sure, just "accept" it instead of celebrating it the way it could be celebrated for it's exceptionilism. I'm just using that as the example of a bigger conversation I hope we can have. For what it's worth, if you're the kind of guy that can't handle this kind of thing and cut me out, just know that I genuinely appreciated your art and it's not just some plastic toy. It's your body of work and you should be proud of it. So take that how you will but I hope you take it as an endorsement of whatever awakening or rebellion that hopefully are still holding inside you and that you can still give to the world unabashedly and unafraid. I want to see you and your message, whatever it may be, in your work and this feels empty of such a thing. It appears rote and I want to see you and what you do at it's best every time. I want you to trash the hotel room, slap protest signs on your city, throw eggs at the mayor, scream from a rooftop, or rage in the streets. Whatever it is you have inside you - I want to see that in your art and I know you can do it because it is what brought me here. It peeks out and is in the shadows of your previous work. I want to see it come into the light and work to cement you as a leader in this space as well as the bar one must beat when coming in after. Your work is amazingly beautiful and intricate but it says nothing to me. Where are you? Find the answer to that and put it in your work. This is what separated the great from the good. And I see greatness in you. Your follower, ACB * Dictated but not read https://photos.app.goo.gl/PGgrGpzoPPzqV3bh9 https://photos.app.goo.gl/MiXVVPZeyPk17j2V9
Adam Christopher Boyd
2024-04-19 22:29:20 +0000 UTCWow! You knocked this one out of the park! Better than I could have dreamed!
Frontovik RKKA
2024-04-19 19:39:38 +0000 UTCIt's amazing!! 😍
Floortje
2024-04-19 18:46:51 +0000 UTCThis is pretty awesome. Can you make the wood awnings with no cloth so I can put my own real cloth over them? Also, would it be possible to make the general goods in the bins as something that can be printed separately and then inserted into the bins? These are minor asks so no biggie if you can't, just thought I would ask though.
Aaron Bono
2024-04-19 18:44:16 +0000 UTC
