Mobile Frame Zero's Creative Contributors
There are several people who are making Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack a success. Vincent Baker, of course, is one. His roleplaying games, the supernatural and morally challenging Western Dogs in the Vineyard, the desperate post-apocalyptic RPG Apocalypse World, and the hopeless horror of Murderous Ghosts are his better-known roleplaying games. I'm best known for my literary SF-inspired Shock:Social Science Fiction and the anthropological black ops Shock:Human Contact.
Then there's you guys. From Tresi Arvizo, the guy I play with at our local JiffyCon who was the first backer, to Luke Crane of The Burning Wheel and Tycho from Penny Arcade, you're making it possible for us to invest our time in stuff that we love to do.
But Soren brings something particularly unique to this game: his mastery of the LEGO® medium. He's also my primary filter when it comes to science fiction in general and giant robot anime in particular. He's a man of extraordinary skill and taste. So what's his deal?
We sat still for a few minutes this afternoon and chatted about his deal. This is what we said!
Joshua: What is it about LEGO that speaks to you as a medium?
Soren: It's like sketching with physical objects. f you're willing to accept the limitations (color, part shapes, psychologically unstable fan community), it's one of the best ways to make pretty good models in almost no time.
And after a while, the restrictions turn into a game - "can I do this? How about this?"
Joshua: How did you get to that point?
Soren: I'm completely horrible at 3D modelling. Clay isn't so good for inorganic forms, and traditional plastic modeling is too time-consuming and heavily chemical. Also, I already had the stuff on hand.
Joshua: So you've been doing this for a while. When did you get your first LEGO?
Soren: I've got no idea. Early. It's been more than two decades.
Joshua: Do you still have those parts from your first days of building?
Soren: Probably? I have no idea. You probably have a lot of them by now, since I tend to give away messed-up parts.
Joshua: I do! A bunch of those have worked their way into my cover for MFØ. So at what point did you start building mecha?
Soren: Once I realized that it was easy.
Joshua: For you, maybe!
Soren: Less flippantly, I figured out that what I wanted to do wasn't something anyone else was doing at the time, and my first few experiments turned out well, so I stuck with it. I made a lot of awful crap, and gradually figured out how not to make awful crap.
Joshua: When was that?
Soren: maybe... eight years ago? Possibly earlier, if you're charitable.
Joshua: What's your proudest piece?
Soren: Hard to say. I mean, scale back a bit and it's all a little ridiculous. None of this stuff is sitting on my coffee table to impress the guests. The carrier is, I think, the biggest thing I've ever made that I actually thought was good. Spaceships, in general, are really relaxing.
Joshua: So what are your biggest aesthetic influences?
Soren: I'm a huge fan of all the guys affiliated with Studio Nue - Shoji Kawamori, Kazutaka Miyatake, Naoyuki Kato. I love Junji Ohkubo (Industrial Divinities was a must-buy for me) and Mamoru Nagano (I own the complete English run of Five Star Stories). I also read a lot of French and Belgian comics that were just bursting with visual novelty - I cried when I heard that Moebius had died.
Joshua: I did, too. The same week as Ralph McQuarrie. It was the end of an age. If I were Joe Johnston or Syd Mead, I'd be really concerned.
Soren: Also big formative influences. Actually, I have this book I got when I was a kid, about the inner workings of ILM. Super influential.
Joshua: Oh, the big black book?
Soren: yeah.
Joshua: My aunt gave me that. I love it.
Joshua: So what is it that you draw from Nue?
Soren: The emphasis on simplicity. Nue was doing a lot of science fiction animé at a time when it was all done by hand, so there were these brutal pressures to eliminate everything that didn't tell the story, because you were drawing stuff that might be onscreen for eight frames in the whole show. It's a tribute to how much they loved the medium and believed in it, that those guys designed such beautiful stuff anyway.
Joshua: Yeah. And I know you're as much a Kunio Okawara fan as I am. It was a big day when I realized that so many of my favorite, hard-to-find images were all drawn by the same guy.
Soren: Yeah, he's kind of gone downhill in recent years, but the stuff he did between First Gundam and about 1990 is all, even the awful mistakes, pretty vibrant.
Joshua: What makes the earlier works so much better?
Soren: Fewer extraneous details. Now, you can pretty much find a way to shoehorn whatever you want in, either with CGI or wireframing, so that pressure to make things animatable at design time is gone.
Joshua: So they wind up industrially florid?
Soren: Fandom has also shifted from old-school model otaku to a creepier, more character-obsessive and narrowly-focused set, but you should go ask the guys at Colony Drop about that. Don't wait for them to stop laughing, or you'll be there all day.
Joshua: I'm pretty sure any such conversation will mostly be composed of profanity. Perceptive profanity.
Soren: Okawara has also been tied to Gundam for way too long. I'm actually really heartened by the number and quality of new designers Sunrise has been putting on Gundam projects, but it just ruined him - ironically, it's his original MSV designs that built the market. A long run of Gundam seems to be ruining Hajime Katoki, too. Strong mechanical design just isn't as important to sales as it used to be, so there's a lot of refinement and not much innovation. I love Gundam Unicorn, but it really is top-heavy with nostalgia.
Joshua: When we sat down to start working on the setting of Mobile Frame Zero together, what got you excited about it? What was it that you wanted to make?
Soren: I wanted to make something that actually captured, or at least reflected, the good stuff in the source material. The PTSD and moral ambiguity of a First Gundam or VOTOMs is what makes them resonant and human instead of forgettable. I think the only other Western mecha game that even tried to do that was Bliss Stage, and that's a dirty hippie game so it doesn't count.
Joshua: Bliss Stage's take on Evangelion is certainly not what the FASA guys would have taken away from the series.
Soren: No, but it's probably a lot closer to the emotional core of the story than anything, including Rebuild of Evangelion, has gotten since. (nerdfact: EVA-01 is painted in inverted Gundam colors.)
Joshua: Like the indie game design scene, everyone is responding to each other's art.
Soren: Sometimes with comical incompetence. Mospeada is not any kind of meaningful response to Macross.
Soren: (But I still want a transforming motorcycle.)
Joshua: I'm with you. On both counts. It's not a very good series, but some of those robots are really hot.
Soren: ARTMIC did all these really hilariously bad shows with awesome design. I like the Gall Force OVAs a lot, but not because they're good.
Joshua: It's been a real honor working with you on this project. You've brought a lot do it, both philosophically and aesthetically.
Soren: Aww. I've really enjoyed it.
In related news,
I am now saddled with a Good Problem. The systems I was planning on using for production and fulfillment of Mobile Frame Zero will no longer suffice at this volume. I had backup plans, but as of Monday, Mobile Frame Zero is bigger than the entire rest of my publishing company will be this year.
Furthermore, since before this project started, I've been trying to find a way to produce kits in larger volumes than we're offering now. We're deep in discussions with some enterprising Bricklinkers, but still don't have any promises.
I have to address these logistical challenges, I have to draw a bunch of stuff, and I have to write and rewrite a bunch of chapters. In the interest of completing and sending this game out, I'm going to have to go periscope down for a little while while I concentrate on creating the book and getting it out to you. You'll be able to follow progress on Twitter @JoshuaACNewman.
Thank you all,
— Joshua
2,639
Backers
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Funding period
Mar 5, 2012 -
Apr 11, 2012
- 2 created · 51 backed
- Joshua A.C. Newman 506 friends
- Website: glyphpress.com
Pledge $10 or more
585 backers
A PDF copy of the game rules! You'll need dice and LEGO or another building toy to play. You'll get the PDF as soon as it's finished!
Estimated delivery: May 2012Pledge $20 or more
1611 backers
The Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack book, printed and glossy, and shipped to your door, plus the PDF as soon as it's finished! We're pricing it as low as we can to make it a kid-friendly price. You'll need dice and LEGO or another building toy to play. (please add $5 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $40 or more
109 backers
Two copies of the rule book for you and a friend! (Please add $5 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $50 or more
111 backers
The Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack book & PDF with a sheet of special edition decals for all three factions designed by Joshua A.C. Newman! You'll need dice and LEGO or another building toy to play. (please add $5 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $60 or more
12 backers
Three copies of the game! You people sure like to play with your friends!
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $70 or more
26 backers
Two copies of the game with decals! You guys sure have a lot of friends! (please add $5 for international backers)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $100 or more
14 backers
Three hard copies of the game (with PDF, like every other level), plus decals for everyone! (please add $5 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $120 or more
11 backers All gone!
| THE MOBILE FRAME GARAGE | A kit of LEGO parts hand-selected by Soren, designed to set up players who don't own LEGO to make mobile frames of any faction. Use it to make five fully-equipped frames from the instructions in the book or design your own! Add any LEGO or Mega Bloks set from the store or buy some weapons from Brickarms.com to customize your company! Specially designed for players who don't have LEGO at their disposal, and priced as low as we can afford, so if you've got a big bin of bricks, please leave this limited kit for those who don't have them! Of course, it comes with the rules and decals from above. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $150 or more
37 backers All gone!
| THE MOBILE FRAME GARAGE! | I've been working hard to get them and now my dream is coming true! Thanks to Paul Janssen, I'm able to offer more Garage kits to backers! Of course, comes with a PDF and hardcopy of the rules and a decal set. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $175 or more
58 backers Limited (31 of 89 left)
|THE MOBILE FRAME GARAGE| OK, here's 100 more! The parts list for the Garage is in the FAQ. Please consider ordering parts from Pick-a-Brick or Bricklink if you're concerned about price. I only want happy backers! Because of the extraordinary success of the Garage kits, they'll all come with bits of terrain and/or objectives! Includes the PDF, rules, and decals. (Please add $10 for international backers)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $190 or more
12 backers All gone!
|THE MOBILE FRAME GARAGE| The final level of Mobile Frame Garages! Paul Janssen's working hard to collect parts from all over the world to satisfy demand. It's very unlikely he'll be able to do any more of these at all! As before, includes the PDF, rulebook and decals. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $200 or more
2 backers All gone!
| A SOREN SPECIAL EDITION KIT! | "We die here today for God!" The Ijad company "Armored of God", known by Free Colonists and Legionnaires alike as the White Devils. Led by the scholar Adaj, they use their artillery to great effect against unbelievers. Of course, it comes with rules and decals. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $200 or more
2 backers All gone!
| A SOREN SPECIAL EDITION KIT! | "We're not all going to make it. But we're going to win." The United Mars Foreign Legion company, the Red Shoulders, charges in fast in their ACT-02. They wading into direct fire range and dealing withering fire. Slow but well-armed, they rely on dealing damage rather than speed or hiding out of range. Of course, comes with the rules and decals. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $200 or more
2 backers All gone!
| A SOREN SPECIAL EDITION KIT! | "This machine kills Fascists." The Free Colonies company Haski's Hammer, led by Comrade-Captain Lahus Haski, has converted old labor frames, scavenged mobile frames, and industrial machinery into a fast-moving, close fighting, coordinated machine of liberation. Of course, comes with the rules and decals. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $400 or more
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| CUSTOM MOBILE FRAME COMPANY BY JOSHUA| Designed to your specification! You'll talk with him about what faction you want and how you want it to work tactically. Joshua will build and ship your company to you. Includes the rules and decals. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jul 2012Pledge $600 or more
5 backers All gone!
| CUSTOM MOBILE FRAME COMPANY BY SOREN | Designed to your specification! You'll get an interview with Joshua (for tactical advice) and Soren (so he can put his mad skills to work) where you'll tell them what faction you want and discuss how you want it to work tactically. Soren will build and ship your company to you. Includes the rules and decals. (please add $10 for international backers.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012
Comments
Creator Soren Roberts on April 2, 2012
Easily:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp…
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp…
Creator Brett Lea on April 1, 2012
Soren, can you give a part break down for the yellow Chubs' arms? I've looked but have not found what looks like the ball & socket for the forarm & hand.
Thanks.
Creator Soren Roberts on March 31, 2012
The reason for five is that it's a good happy medium - if you make five, you can shake things up a little when you play with four, and it's easy to just duplicate a couple of existing units to bring it up to seven or eight.
Creator Joshua A.C. Newman on March 30, 2012
Adriano, check out the comments thread on the main page. Lots of people will help you there.
A company can be 3-5 for a skirmish game or 4-8 for a big battle. The precise size is a strategic decision.
Creator Adriano Trancoso on March 30, 2012
Finally my CC is here and I'm backing this! I have a couple of questions:
- can you guys share a breakdown of frames models of each faction? I know that we can use whatever we want, but I'm a fluff freak and I want to acquire pieces that I can use to build chubs, but dunno which factions use them exactly.
- what's the min/max number of frames per side? I see 5 being suggested, but a "company" would be more that that, right?
Creator crackpotTheorist on March 29, 2012
@Mantisking, thats not true. Two other sets, albeit from the designers themselves, have made that number. As for the sets, thank you.
@Michael Martin, Yeah, I saw that one. However, that parts list costs 80 bucks for enough to make 5 units, using pick a brick. Thats why I was asking which sets would just be best to go along side it, and add onto it.
Creator Adam S on March 29, 2012
I picked up the Star Wars Brickmaster book/set because I had some coupons for Barnes and Noble and can confirm that it has good parts. I didn't make anything that looked like an official frame, but I got my feet wet. The biggest limitation is it only has two hydraulic 'T's and no other arm/leg pivots, so making more than one frame requires some creativity. :)
At ~$22 for 240 bricks the price per brick is about equivalent to most Pick-A-Brick prices, but is much higher than the ~0.02 per piece I was seeing on Bricklink.
Creator Michael Martin on March 29, 2012
@crackpot - check Update #6 - it has a part list for the mobile frame garage. You can order them all from the Lego Pick-a-brick site. Some of the piece id's have changed, but I'm pretty sure you can still get them all, you might just have to hunt through their interface a little.
You can also check the main comment list: ringmaster recently posted a bookmarklet tool to help expedite filling your shipping basket.
I just put in an order last Friday for the whole list (~$78), and it shipped yesterday from Poland.
Creator Mantisking on March 29, 2012
@Crackpot Theorist -- The only set to crack 10K on Cuusoo thus far is the "Minecraft" one and that's only because the hordes of it's fans came over and pushed it over the top. Anyway, that's a whole 'nother debate and it's been rehashed on here several times.
Here's a list of random sets that would get you a bunch of cool and useful pieces for MFZ: X-Wing polybag, AT-ST polybag, AAT polybag, Hallowe'en Spiders polybag, Atlantis Octopus polybag, Atlantis Mini-Sub polybag, Star Wars Brickmaster, Atlantis Brickmaster, Star Wars 2011 Advent Calendar, and the Ninjago Brickmaster.
Creator Soren Roberts on March 29, 2012
Well, it's succeeding just fine right now. Beyond our wildest dreams, honestly. We had contingency plans in case we couldn't meet our goals. Or do you just think 'success' is defined solely by official recognition? Because, um, it's really not. Right now we're accomplishing exactly what we wanted to.
That 'mature' feel you're talking about is exactly why Lego would reject it. If you're really adamant about this, I know several actual set designers at Lego HQ. I can give you their email addresses and you can have this discussion with them. I'm saving you the time.
Creator crackpotTheorist on March 29, 2012
On a slightly related note, if someone were to just go buy $100 of LEGO sets, straight from the lego store, which sets would you suggest to go alongside MFZ?
I'm thinking the MBA stuff would probably work well, as would some of the smaller scale Star Wars vehicles.
Creator crackpotTheorist on March 29, 2012
Actually no, my goal is to see this succeed. Its a really neat concept, and I would love to play it. Plus, it has a more 'mature' feel to it then most other LEGO sets now a days tend to go with. It would certainly be a welcome change if they were to start producing stuff like this, along side the usual Star Wars, Harry Potter, and generic theme of the year.
Creator Soren Roberts on March 29, 2012
Tell you what, if we get nine thousand backers, and those nine thousand backers will all agree to sign up on CUUSOO and vote for what I put up, I'll do it. It won't be specifically MFZ, but I can throw up basic versions of all three official frames as 'construction bots' or whatever. The last thousand votes, I'll bet on your hunch that it will work.
There's no guarantee that what I put up won't get tweaked by a set designer before it turns into a product, though, even if it passes review. So if your goal is to get parts, it's not the best way to do that.
Creator crackpotTheorist on March 29, 2012
Still, whats the harm in making a Cuusoo page? You have mentioned before how many times this project has blown your expectations for it out of the water. Its reached a huge amount of funding. Put it a place specifically for gaining support from LEGO fans instead of just general backers, and a place where people don't have to put down a minimum of $1 to support you, I think it could reach a whole lot of potential.
I'm not saying that its the only solution, or even the best. I'm sure you have already considered everything I have said here. Just saying, why not give it a shot? Counting chickens and all that. Nice to leave a few options open. No need to burn down bridges just because you curse like a sailor. You could always have Soren, or another member of the dev team act as PR.
Creator Joshua A.C. Newman on March 29, 2012
Crackpot, the answer is in the question. LEGO knows we're here. Given their standard of success on Cuusoo (TEN THOUSAND backers) we don't come within a stud of mattering. The Back to the Future DeLorean doesn't have enough backers, fer fuck's sake. And then there's the matter of my potty mouth.
We're working on it hard. We're even working on weird, orthogonal solutions. We just don't have any promises to make yet.
Creator crackpotTheorist on March 29, 2012
On the note of distributing more kits... Have you tried just asking LEGO? Seems like the chances are slim to none, but if it works, it could be the NEXT BIG THING. Both for you and them.
And it doesn't hurt to try. Except for the long legal discussions about who gets how much of what cuts, and who is the IP holder, etc.
Creator Sean Schoonmaker on March 29, 2012
Soren is a true artist whose medium just happens to be LEGO.
This project is definitely better off for his creative input!
Creator Aaron Rehfield on March 29, 2012
VERY cool builds. I'm a war gamer and this was just too cool to pass up. Although, I have to admit that being a newbie with Lego, finding the pieces and building mechs is exciting yet intimidating.
At this point, I'm inclined to make my force an offshoot of the Borg and go with all cubes! :-)
Creator Joshua A.C. Newman on March 29, 2012
Greg, yeah, Soren knows his shit.
Noah, I'm working in the back of my head on a MFØ space battle set. It could very well be 002.
Creator Noah Doyle on March 28, 2012
Loving that ship. Might have to play MF0 in Spaaaaace.
Also...wait, is the bot holding shotgun shells between his fingers? That's...wonderful!
(I wanted a Tetra Vaal movie so badly.)
Creator Greg Strom on March 28, 2012
Regardless, still pretty sweet!
Creator Joshua A.C. Newman on March 28, 2012
Annnnd pictures are changed! Yeah, those were sketches. Not final things. Now in place: final things!
Creator Soren Roberts on March 28, 2012
Joshua fucked up by posting those pictures, actually. They're not final yet and only the backers were meant to see them.
Creator Greg Strom on March 28, 2012
Tjat high mobility Chub is pretty sweet!
Creator Kairam Ahmed Hamdan on March 28, 2012
Please keep using this space for updates for I don't tweet.