Observations: Controller Shake

We upgraded to the WiiU from the Wii in preparation for Swap Force, and in general as the Wii is an older system. One thing we've noticed is the change in opening treasure chests and doors. Without my prompting, my son commented that he misses the Wii remote shake used to open these items in Giants and SSA. I have to agree! It was fun, adding some energy to the game. I really had a smooth and efficient wrist twist and flip to insert and turn the keys to open doors. Come to think of it, I really miss that!! Lol.

Anyway, I understand keeping that feature would likely have been responsible for countless WiiU Gamepads hurling through the air, impacting the skulls of many a younger brother, sister or parent!! Not to mention the cost of replacement Gamepads. However, we have played Swap Force on WiiU with the standard controllers and, sadly, they have removed the feature when using those too-:(

I have an idea...why not give you the option for both ?!? Yeah! 

With the recent announcement of "Skylanders 4" in development, hope springs eternal!!!

Dark Washbuckler arrives via the WiiU Gamepad

Have a Holly Jolly Bumble Blast!

Stopped into GameStop on my way into work this evening and Jolly Bumble Blast was out on the pegs! Technically not out until tomorrow, it was an unexpected surprise! Making it an even better deal was the Free Skylander Coupon I had from doing the GS Skylander Club. One stocking stuffer for my son in the bag!!!

Here's a pic collage I put together and an early Merry Christmas from us!

Swap Force Observations

As we play the game, I am noticing certain differences, both good and bad, in the game play from the previous versions. I wanted to keep a running commentary on them as I notice them because frankly, if I don't write them down fairly quickly, they get lost in the moment. I will try to tag them as "Observations" so they can be searched on the blog under that tag and reviewed as a group.

So anyway: The one I'm noticing at the moment is with Chill, or Blizzard Chill I should say. She looks great, as I think so far all have, in Swap Force. However, I am noticing a difference in the "feel" in the way she knocks the ice blocks around. They used to slide around fairly energetically. Now they are slower...which is too bad but not a major concern. The difference can be explained perhaps that VV (Vicarious Visions) have weighted them as more massive in the computer modeling. As I said, not a major concern but a diminishment to me. More importantly to me is her ice bashing them with her shield to get them moving in the first place. In the past, once she deployed the blocks, she could rapid hit them in sequence pretty quickly to send them off smoothly. Now she gets the first hit and the line moves forward slightly, taking the shield bash offline. She has to advance a step to continue hitting them. For me, this is annoying and takes away from her utility. I wonder if anyone else notices it...? It's too bad because I was just getting the hang of her in Giants.

A second observation is with Flashwing. Her Lightcore figure is brilliant!!!! ( nod to the British there) Upon observation, her proportions have changed: more stubby. Especially the wings . This, I'm sure is an attempt to make her more sturdy to encapsulate the LED and better propagate the light through her body (something they really achieved with her-she ranks up there with Lightcore Prism Break IMO). For sheer interest, if you have a Series 1 Flaswing, put them side by side and compare them. The most obvious difference can be seen in the size of her head....noticeably larger on the Lightcore version. As I stated earlier, the Lightcore is great and I'm on board with the potential reasons for the proportion change... I just hope it's for the Lightcore only and that if she ever gets a Series 3 or Series 2 (non-Lightcore) pose, that they go back to her original proportions. I think she was pretty well perfect in her first iteration.

More rumblings as I notice...I just wanted to get the ball rolling on recording the things we are noticing as we play....Enjoy all!

The Lightcore posters and collages:

Here is quick update of the Artisan Earth Island showing a bit of wear and tear and Skylanders. The text is on the picture...

The agony and the ecstasy continues....or should I say, the ecstasy and the agony: the Frito-Lay Fight Rider is a Done Deal!! Woo-Hoo! The Frito-Lay Rattle Shake...D'oh!!
Actually, this apparently happened to a lot of people on the first day. Which they have corrected...BUT....The system they seem to be using confounds the senses...codes on the outside of the packaging (haven't they ever heard of cellphone cameras?!? In 2 minutes a person can photograph every code on a wall full of packages. To boot, if they disabled their "This code has already been used" function...does that mean I can enter the same code everyday? Worse still, they diable the code after several uses by the same user and Don't bother to let you know!?! The jury is still out on this one.....

Addition: As of 11/17, we seem to have won a Rattleshake!!! They emailed a confirmation to us. Which is great and curious. Curious because we did not receive any confirmation yet via email about the Fright Rider we won....hmmm.

Here are some shots for all the Hot Dog fans out there. While he's not one of my "go to" Skylanders, He is fun and a lot of people like him. This is him on the Artisan Earth Island (hanging on our wall to display all of our Earth Element Skylanders and the first in what I hope to be a series of 8, one for each element. I'm presently working on the Artisan Air Island)
On an interesting note (at least to me!), the background skyscape is from the Dark Edition Swap Force Starter Pack we got from GameStop. It looks great and is a really handy portable backdrop for any Skylander pics. I plan to paint the wall where we are putting up our islands. I'm not master painter but I am going to give it a try. There are a lot of help videos on YouTube as examples. Believe it or not, Bob Ross is one of the best for this kind of project: encouraging, detailed, simplified as much as possible....And let's face it...Very Relaxing!,,,lol.

Here are some un-watermarked versions for anybody that wants to play with them. Use it in any way that you wish-Enjoy!

Not part of The Lightcore set, this is a shot of the artisan Earth Island we have hanging on our wall. After completion, I took the wall display out into the backyard in full sun and put some Skylanders into position. I created sunken display pads in various places to hold them in place and better conceal their often color mis-matched bases. A bright orange sheet was placed behind the model to act as a "green screen". I was able to remove the orange background fairly easily with editing software and substitute in the sky background. I don't mind doing this at all but I like to explain to you which pictures have been tampered with and which pictures are all "in camera" effects. 

This picture shows a downward looking angle that I like.

Enjoy!

Hail to the Whale!!! Just a great figure to photograph and not a bad angle to be found. The detailing on him is pretty impressive. I would love to see a variant on him (if for no other reason than a way to explore his second upgrade path). I am curious to see if they will continue with things like that for the Giants line now that Swap Force is out. They didn't seem to in the previous iteration of Spyro's Adventure to Giants transition but there are a few indicators-eg. The upcoming re-release of Dino Rang at ToysRUs  ( Nov. 17th, I believe).  As Pumpkin Eye Brawl shows up in game as the standard Eye Brawl, I don't expect an in-game variant. But still, another variation would be welcomed by me and mine. Perhaps he is a victim of his own exquisite detailing....Where to go with a variant? How to improve him? A pose of him in his belly slide would be pretty unique...Seaweed Thumpback?...Barnacle Thumpback?!?
Anyway he is an excellent Lightcore as well and deserved the multi-pose  picture. I have a few of him looking good, illuminated in the caves of our Artisan Earth Island. I will be getting those up after I fill in The Lightcore Album. Enjoy...

 The above photo shows me putting the finishing touches in place...
Interestingly enough, the escaping green gas (Which is what prompted these photos) is no special effect...besides minor brightness and color saturation changes. All looks are made "In-camera". The green gas is where my backdrop drooped down and was touching the figure. It stayed put so I took a few pictures. I couldn't have planned it any better.

 This one (above) is...without a doubt...my favorite!!! The two below are un-watermarked versions for you to use as you wish-Enjoy!

Lol !! Happy Halloween all!
(FYI...The Undead Element symbol is a close up of the Power-A Portal platform)

Happy Halloween!

Here is an un-watermarked version, I will be trying to save un-watermarked versions in the Pica Alblum (click on the slides how gadget in the upper right hand corner). Sometimes the aesthetics are far better and I want people to be able to use them in their own projects!! 

And again...

Happy Halloween!!

For all the Crusher fans...(Only wish I had Granite Crusher!!!...lol)

I wanted to post a cross section of the Lightcore set. As I build the Blog ( and more displays), I want to hear from other players which characters they want to see more of. Perhaps a favorite that is under represented or just doesn't get the Respect!! they think they deserve ( a la Boomer!). Then create some art that does them justice. Let me know who you would like to see.
I have many shots of characters on the Earth island and some others that I would like to clean up and render as sets. Perhaps...by Element, or The Dragons, or Fire and Water. And the Swappers present a whole new can of worms..lol. A BIG can!
Anyway...Enjoy.

What the hay...one more...

Taking a page from the New Star Trek movies (Dated myself there): Lense Flares...Lense Flares....More Lense Flares!!!

And to start it off...Jet Vac the Adventurer....these were some of the first I did and when I looked at them, Jet Vac had the definite feel of Indiana Jones...

The builds continue, as I will be posting more up soon. 

However, I'm starting a new addition to this blog, which was an upshot from all the builds: picture sets of my favorite's:  Activision's SKYLANDERS!

The first set will be "The Lightcore". Based, obviously, on the excellent lightcore figures for the Skylanders Adventures by Activision. These were the first not taken directly on our islands and taken to highlight the creative characters and the excellent work put into making them.

I found myself creating wall displays and taking pictures to document the process. The shots were fun to do and turned out far better than I expected. So...share them with other fans and enthusiasts, I say!

Feel free to copy and use them any way you want..they are there for the enjoyment of all!!!

Here is the final version of the Earth Element Island. Its ready for wall hanging and Skylanders figures. I set it up outside to take some pictures in full light. and to document how it came out. (also to have comparison pictures for how it takes the wear and tear of use).
They turned out excellent. The picture at the top of the blog came from this shoot and was not touched up in any way. (with the exception of being rotated and an identification logo added) The blue sky in the background is just that: regular blue sky. My wife said it almost looks fake!! lol.
I cut the island away from its background and posted a full shot of it above.
I have been considering how to proceed from here and I think I will be gathering some of the "concept art" and pictures I took during construction to present the process in a step by step way. As I moved from the idea to making it a reality, I had to brush off old skills far out of use (soldering for one...YES! soldering!!) and research a whole bunch of methods requiring skill sets I have NEVER had (painting realistic rock for starters). "YouTube" turned out to be my classroom!!

A New Adventure Begins..

As an adult, any game you can play with your seven year old that entertains and delights you at the same time is to be clamped onto for dear life! This was the case with the Activision Skylanders. Enjoyment was had all around thru "Spyro's Adventure" and "Giants".
As I'm sure any of the initiated will know, the figurines used to play are swapped on and off the electronic gaming pad or "Portal of Power"to drop each character into and out of the game. The highly detailed figures contain an embedded chip which records the changing and improving strengths of the character, so the gameplay information is specific to and travels with the individual characters. The characters themselves are highly stylized and delightfully creative.
The ending result is multiple, cool-looking figurines that have to be close at hand for use: so they initially cluster around the console, then spill out onto the floor and finally, take over the coffee table!! The difficult logistics are evident when you try to walk thru the area.
The answer for us was to try and make wall hanging islands, one for each element. (the characters are divided into 8 "elements".) The collection would be displayed, characters easy to find, use and replace as they are swapped back and forth during gameplay and precious floorspace would be miraculously regained!!! Not to mention a secondary benefit for my son: each island serving as a springboard for imaginative adventures concocted by my son as he plays with the figures by themselves.
So...As I stated... the answer was to TRY....and I am in the middle of that now. The process has been challenging, informative and highly enjoyable. The results to date totally exceed our expectations and continue to educate and inform the next effort.
I'm starting the blog to document the process I'm enjoying soo much and to gauge the public interest. I have been told by those I love that people would love these.
So here goes...