Mars Base Alpha mat in B&W plus news...
Thanks to LEGOmom for sending me the B&W image of the challenge mat for Mars Base Alpha: Plan B. I was worried that printing out the mat in B&W would wash out some of the areas that were intentionally done in light gray (the areas where the mission models are placed, for example). Apparently those areas are still visible on the white background. I'll definitely be providing future challenge mats in both full-color and B&W PDF options.
Mars Base Gamma is coming together nicely and is still on for an August 2008 release- one of the missions has turned out to be somewhat difficult (but not impossible) and I'm considering replacing it... but I might leave it in for Bonus Points. To those who are running the Mars Base Alpha challenge, would you prefer easier or harder missions as options in future challenges?
Comments
Seeing your "Mars Base Command" stuff makes me wish my son were three years younger.
The materials look great.
LEGOmom
Please resubmit your comment - I will be deleting it shortly for inappropriate language but want to give you time to copy the text and resubmit.
Thanks for the feedback - I had no problems in testing with the collector staying upright when using double-sided tape to hold it firmly in place - no glue required.
Originally the playing field was almost double what it is now - but a few test participants didn't like the increased size - so mileage is going to vary on this subject.
I create the missions with a goal of providing a spread of easy-to-hard missions - I need to provide easy ones for the rookies and those with less experience, but I also have to provide one or two difficult missions for the pros... I'll continue to do so - since this isn't a real competition (you're only competing against yourself really and the goal is learning, improving, modifying, etc) I provide a scoring system that participants can use to judge their improvements.
Not all future modules will use the same playing field size, but I don't expect many to be too much larger.
Thanks for the feedback.
Jim