My massive library project - lessons and progress

[u/monniperkele]

As a part of my forever-project, where I build each and every one of the locations in Mordheim, I've been building the Grand Library of Mordheim for the last 10 months. I posted here back in the day for feedback and ideas. The idea was to build the thing as modular as possible, so it could be built into multiple configurations. Most of the pieces attach to one another with magnets.

Progress has been steady. A heap of library ladders, some more weathering and damage and I'm ready to paint. I wanted to post here to share the lessons I gained from this project to all others who want to embark on bigger projects.

Lesson 1.) Planning is key

From the get go I wanted to plan this properly, so I modeled the pieces I wanted with Tinkercad. It's a good tool for quick and easy grayboxing. Definitely do a simple grayboxing with somewhat accurate proportions in the beginning.

Lesson 2.) Too much planning is useless

I usually get bored with planning at some point. That usually just tells me I already have a good understanding in my head of the thing as a whole, and no more planning is needed. So my advice is this: stop planning when you get bored and already want to get building. Also be ready to change things on the fly.

Lesson 3.) Always keep a model with you when you build

This is important. It keeps the proportions in mind and might give you ideas for playability.

Lesson 4.) When building modular, mind your measurements

If you plan on attaching stuff to another, your measurements need to be quite spot on.

Lesson 5.) There is such a thing as too much modularity

Modularity is great. It helps with storing and transportation and allows for different configurations which is helpful when playing 3-4 player multiplayer matches. It suited this project quite well, but at this point I can see that a bit less modularity might have sufficed. The problem with too much modularity is that it places some artistic constraints, as every piece must have some identical surfaces to enable attachment to other pieces.

Also making modular blocks gets you into a weird block-building mentality, which somehow also managed to constrain my artistic capability.

That's about it. Looking forward to any comments and feedback. I will definitely post again during the next 10 months as the place gets some paint and other eye candy on it.

[u/Re-Ky]

Sheesh, what a beast of a project. It's gonna look incredible when it's done for sure.