The future is here
3D printing isn't anything new, however we're still far from finding it's full potential. People have talked about 3d printing miniatures, but I've not seen anything solid, until today that is.
Introducing Pocket-Dungeons by dutchmogul. A free to reproduce set of rules and figures for a dungeon crawl type game. Ok so it's far from polished and I'm not sure it counts as truly free, I've yet to see a 3d printer for under £1,200 and the medium costs around £400.
But it is interesting to ponder as to what the future might be like. Picture this, I've got some friends over and we decide to play dungeons and dragons. I don't own a copy and my nearest wargames store (Heroes and Legends, Surbiton) stocks it, but it's the evening and they are shut. So I go online, pay a fee and download the rules as a PDF and a set of .stl files for the miniatures. I set the printer running and by the time we have had something to eat the game is waiting to be played.
Now consider this, about five years ago, a blue ray player was the best part of a grand. In fact, to buy a PS3 for £250, was a cheap way of getting a blue ray player. Now a look on google shopping and the first result for a blue ray player is £45.
Ok so as far as miniatures go dutchmogul's Pocket-Dungeon figures aren't going to win any beauty awards. But consider that they were created using a free piece of browser based software and he is offering the source files to download free of charge. So what if a professional 3d modeller was employed to create 'models' that were available to buy. Not only that, films like Shrek, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc are created entirely using 3d models, so what if you could download and print a perfect scale representation of Sully using the actual file used in Monsters Inc? Want a 28mm miniature Na'vi from Avatar, or a 1/72 model of the Prometheus? The source files exist, the knowledge and the technology exists, it's just a matter of somebody making the connection.
Introducing Pocket-Dungeons by dutchmogul. A free to reproduce set of rules and figures for a dungeon crawl type game. Ok so it's far from polished and I'm not sure it counts as truly free, I've yet to see a 3d printer for under £1,200 and the medium costs around £400.
But it is interesting to ponder as to what the future might be like. Picture this, I've got some friends over and we decide to play dungeons and dragons. I don't own a copy and my nearest wargames store (Heroes and Legends, Surbiton) stocks it, but it's the evening and they are shut. So I go online, pay a fee and download the rules as a PDF and a set of .stl files for the miniatures. I set the printer running and by the time we have had something to eat the game is waiting to be played.
Now consider this, about five years ago, a blue ray player was the best part of a grand. In fact, to buy a PS3 for £250, was a cheap way of getting a blue ray player. Now a look on google shopping and the first result for a blue ray player is £45.
Ok so as far as miniatures go dutchmogul's Pocket-Dungeon figures aren't going to win any beauty awards. But consider that they were created using a free piece of browser based software and he is offering the source files to download free of charge. So what if a professional 3d modeller was employed to create 'models' that were available to buy. Not only that, films like Shrek, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc are created entirely using 3d models, so what if you could download and print a perfect scale representation of Sully using the actual file used in Monsters Inc? Want a 28mm miniature Na'vi from Avatar, or a 1/72 model of the Prometheus? The source files exist, the knowledge and the technology exists, it's just a matter of somebody making the connection.
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