Anyone who’s seen and enjoyed Tron: Legacy has probably daydreamed about being a light cycle-riding digital gladiator who battles things out on a huge grid while Daft Punk plays in the background. Brett King, the author of this awesome Tron playset, has gone farther than most in the quest to make the daydream come true.
Brett designed the playset to serve as a board game for him and his kids. He constructed the base with two pieces of smoked acrylic and in order to turn it into a grid, he etched the characteristic crisscrossed lines on it with an Epilog laser cutter. The lines are covered with luminous paint and they glow under a blacklight.
In the movie, each light cycle leaves a blazing trail behind it, an effective “jetwall” into which other riders can crash and dissolve into nothingness. Brett replicated these with fluorescent orange and blue acrylic which he also cut out using the Epilog. The Recognizer (an arc-shaped security vehicle that prevents the programs/riders from escaping the grid, seen at the beggining of the vid below) was store bought, though Brett modified it slightly to include rows of blue and blacklight LEDs. The light cycles themselves were bought as well.
It’s all systems go and time to play the game. Brett proposes a scheme where the teams or players take turns moving the light cycles, using the light streams or jetwalls. The streams come in various sizes (2″, 4″, 8″ and 12″), each size representing a certain speed that can be increased or decreased in every turn. Much like in the movie, if your light cycle happens to bump into one of the light streams, you’re de-resolved (“derezzed”, in Tron slang) off the grid. Last one remaining on the board wins!
The game can become more complex if a dice is brought in to dictate whether the cycles are allowed to make a certain move or not. However, the playset looks so mind-blowing that the acute imagination will soon think of many other ways of altering and improving the game’s dynamics. There’s no question that this year’s “World’s Greatest Dad” mug will be more well-earned than ever by Brett.
Thirsty for more Tron: Legacy goodies? Check out Tron Legacy’s Quorra in LEGO Form, The Ultimate TRON Watch and TRON Furniture Designs by Corian.
Via: MAKE Magazine Forum.
