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KaM and K'nex?

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cmowla

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Post 03 Sep 2013, 23:18

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Thanks again guys (and gals?).
I liked K'nex, but I never got very many of them since I preferred legos. Your projects are very impressive, indeed.
But the most impressive thing I see is that you are from the United States! Someday, you'll have to tell me the story of how you were introduced to KaM :P
It is interesting, indeed. :D
My mother used to bring my sister and I to what we call "yard sales" in the US often (not sure if that's a familiar term for you all) (where you are allowed to post signs around your neighborhood with your address mentioning that you were selling household items at your house). My sister was into the middle age time period, and actually she wanted the game as soon as she saw and read the description on the box (I actually want NOT interested just by looking at it, but I had no idea what it was, as I never played a strategy game before it.). I don't remember how much the guy (I'm guessing he was in his mid to late twenties) sold it to us for, but it wasn't much. He said it was a great game (but selling it at most 1 year after the original release date made me wonder if he really liked it). Anyway, my sister ended up not having patience for it, but when I played it for the first time by myself, I was hooked.
I don't know K'nex at all, but nice work !
(I made the Trebuchet from AoE2 which you could pack and unpack. It could take a 2 pound (about 1 kilogram) counterweight easily, but it did fire a decent sized projectile 35 feet (about 10.5 meters) with a 5 pound (about 2.25 kilogram) counterweight. If anyone is also an AoE2 fan and/or K'nex fan and is interested in seeing the plans (in picture form, let me know).
I'd like to see the plans ;)
Okay, here they are. I'll try to identify the different pieces as much as I can. I apologize for picture quality, but I used an ancient digital camera at the time! I know by looking at the pictures I could rebuild it, so I'm sure anyone with experience with K'nex and enough pieces could too. I took my first physics course after I made this (I just made it by simply observing the game's trebuchet in action for several hours because I wanted my trebuchet to look like the game's trebuchet as much as I could while still managing a semi-sturdy structure which could throw a decent distance), so I'm sure there is a lot of room for improvement.

UPDATE in 2021. I made a post about this on Reddit and have replaced the past links with this Imgur post. In it I explain things better.

From the Age of Empires 2 game,
I also made the "scorpion" (similar to TPR's ballista), "bombard canon", battering ram, and siege ram out of K'nex, but sadly I didn't take pictures of them (and I hated myself for that!).

The siege ram was very strong (both its attack and its structure). For the "bombard cannon", I basically made it by using green connectors to make a "pipe", and I used a rubber band to pull to put potential energy on the K'nex ball which I put inside (god, that thing shot almost as far as the trebuchet, and I could control the aim very easily). Oh well.
Last edited by cmowla on 24 Jul 2021, 16:29, edited 1 time in total.
Invasion won: with 0 losses and without save reloads|TSK 20 in 4.47 minutes|Border of Life Co-op Won in 1h33m55s|The Official KaM Speedrun Page
What makes me an Expert isn't my skill in of itself but my desire to win big.
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Ben

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Post 03 Sep 2013, 23:49

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Wow, man, your a genius! I've heard of the trebuchets being built with K'nex, but not rams. I really wish yo had pictures of that one :(
And you're also making me nostalgic for playing AoK again. Don't do that to me :P
I used to spam this forum so much...
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Lewin

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Post 04 Sep 2013, 00:46

Re: KaM and K'nex?

That's awesome :)
My family had some K'nex when I was younger, we've probably still got it somewhere. So it's in Australia too! :) I never made anything as impressive as these though.
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cmowla

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Post 04 Sep 2013, 01:26

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Thanks Lewin for the compliment! I had no idea you all would like it so much!
Wow, man, your a genius! I've heard of the trebuchets being built with K'nex, but not rams. I really wish yo had pictures of that one :(
And you're also making me nostalgic for playing AoK again. Don't do that to me :P
LOL. Thanks for the compliment. I do invest a lot of time in what I'm good at.

Anyway,
The siege ram's body was very simple to make. Just use purple connectors with rods to make the peak of it's roof, use the plastic metallic plates to fill in most of the roof, use the circular white connectors with 8 long BLACK rocks going through it, etc. to make the actual ram rod, and then use red connectors to make the ram's head. Extend the length of the ram's rod using orange connectors at the end of each of the black long rods to attach maybe a red rod...you're probably lost, but that's what I remember. If I had K'nex, I could build it again.

As far as Age of Empires 2 the Conqueror's Expansion itself, that game has become quite boring for SP for me. I have played it off and on for about 13 years (almost as long as I have played KaM), but recently I have gotten so good that the game isn't challenging (and I play with the hardest difficulty..."I've seen it all"). I have been having 1 ally for the sole purpose of me having a market and/or dock to trade with, but I figured that I can now have no allies because I can kill an enemy and trade with their market.
  • I don't know if it was my previous computer or what (windows vista 2 gb ram), but I found that if you play SP, if you build all gates instead of fortified (or stone) wall, the enemy will not attack your wall (which is composed entirely of touching gates...expensive, but it pays off)...it seems like they're only programmed to attack the actual wall and not gates so much (unless the gate was next to wall).
  • I find that if you destroy one wall block of the computer's, they will send their villagers to build a new wall...just keep killing the villagers as they come, and eventually the computer player resigns...it's just like sucking the life out of them. Too simple of a death. :rolleyes:
What was your favorite civilization? Mine was the Mongols because of their mangudai's hit and run maneuver capabilities, strength against siege weapons and ships, and it only took 15 elite mangudai to garrison into a castle to give it 11(20) attack. I casually played against 5 computer players and had 1 ally. (To make it fair for the computer :lol: ). However for the following two records, I had 2 allies and 5 enemies. I don't know how good these are compared to other humans who play SP, but they're pretty good for me.

The most number of units I killed in a single game (I believe it was a map from one of the patches which gave more than 5 relics...the enemy possessed all 21 relics and I had 0, so that's why they could produce so many soldiers).
Image
Image

My best kill-to-lose ratio
Image
Image
Last edited by cmowla on 01 Feb 2014, 22:25, edited 1 time in total.
Invasion won: with 0 losses and without save reloads|TSK 20 in 4.47 minutes|Border of Life Co-op Won in 1h33m55s|The Official KaM Speedrun Page
What makes me an Expert isn't my skill in of itself but my desire to win big.
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Shadaoe

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Post 04 Sep 2013, 09:45

Re: KaM and K'nex?

The trebuchet you made is impressive ! Especially since you also did the packing/unpacking process, you're really good at this (whatever it is :P)
I really like the fact that the siege engines you made were actually functional, that must have been quite some work !

Since you seem to love age of kings, you might be interested in seeing an official age of empires trebuchet toy that wasn't released
Image
I never found any picture of it assembled and I don't feel like unwrapping mine, but ou get the idea (that's for people who didn't mess with this K'nex black magic :p ).

Much less impressive but I thought you'd like to see it ;)
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Ben

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Post 04 Sep 2013, 15:04

Re: KaM and K'nex?

This is getting off topic (I might split this later), but you are right: The AI in AoK is pretty easy to manipulate. Even on the hardest difficulty, they are not so tough (though 7v1 is still very impossible for me). For example, if you place palisade wall around a resource drop-off, the AI will not try to destroy the wall and instead the villagers will all just clump around the building, trying to reach it.

I'd love to play multiplayer with you. I'm trying to form a group of friends to play AoK with, too.= since playing with randoms is no fun for me (sportsmanship in AoK is much worse than KaM). However, if you are set on playing SP, then I recommend you download the fan-made AI script, The Horde: http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/s ... leid=10116
AoK allows players to write their own AI. This one is truly amazing. It sometimes feels like playing against a human. I never used it much because I don't like SP, but you may like it :)
I used to spam this forum so much...
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cmowla

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Post 04 Sep 2013, 16:55

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Thanks for the thought, Shadaoe. I probably am not interested because I made that Trebuchet 8 years ago, and I have grown out of siege weapons. It's interesting to know that they actually made a kit though.

Thanks Ben.
I haven't played Age of Empires recently, but I can try this out soon. I would love to play MP with you in that game, as it seems like one has more freedom than in the MP for KaM. We can keep in touch with PM on here, I guess.

I haven't played 7-1 on the hardest difficulty since I first got the game (and I lost pretty quickly, obviously), but I'm sure I could win now on some maps, especially if only 5 relics are placed on the map (default). However, I have played 6-2 on the Mediterranean map and won (my ally was killed very early in the game). However, with the gate trick I mentioned, it might even be possible to play 7-1 on the Scandinavian map (very hard, I think)...but it would be as boring and as long as watching me beat your vortamic.
Invasion won: with 0 losses and without save reloads|TSK 20 in 4.47 minutes|Border of Life Co-op Won in 1h33m55s|The Official KaM Speedrun Page
What makes me an Expert isn't my skill in of itself but my desire to win big.
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Shadaoe

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Post 04 Sep 2013, 17:03

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Well that was just to show you that they made it, nothing more ;)
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Krom

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Post 05 Sep 2013, 07:12

Re: KaM and K'nex?

This is very inspirational topic :)
KaM houses are amazing! The proportions and looks are perfect :)
We did not had anything alike Knex in Russia (at least as far as I know), we had mostly Lego-like and metal constructors )

P.S. Tom should add your Knex buildings to the sites fan art section ;)
Knights Province at: http://www.knightsprovince.com
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cmowla

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Post 05 Sep 2013, 08:24

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Thanks for the compliments, Krom :).

If Tom wanted to add these pics, I definitely wouldn't mind. Some buildings weren't as good as others, so he can add any or all of them.
Invasion won: with 0 losses and without save reloads|TSK 20 in 4.47 minutes|Border of Life Co-op Won in 1h33m55s|The Official KaM Speedrun Page
What makes me an Expert isn't my skill in of itself but my desire to win big.
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T*AnTi-V!RuZz

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Post 05 Sep 2013, 08:42

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Thanks for the compliments, Krom :).

If Tom wanted to add these pics, I definitely wouldn't mind. Some buildings weren't as good as others, so he can add any or all of them.
Good idea, Krom :)

@cmowla: Can you zip or rar the files and send them to info(at)knightsandmerchants(dot)net? :)
That's easier for me than saving each image seperately.
Last edited by T*AnTi-V!RuZz on 13 Sep 2021, 13:57, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Censored email
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cmowla

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Post 05 Sep 2013, 16:42

Re: KaM and K'nex?

I sent the pictures of the buildings to the above address. :D

I don't know if you post the names of your contributors, but you may post my real name "Christopher Mowla" or my username from the forums if you do post names.
Invasion won: with 0 losses and without save reloads|TSK 20 in 4.47 minutes|Border of Life Co-op Won in 1h33m55s|The Official KaM Speedrun Page
What makes me an Expert isn't my skill in of itself but my desire to win big.
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The Dark Lord

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Post 05 Sep 2013, 18:10

Re: KaM and K'nex?

Wow impressive cmowla!
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T*AnTi-V!RuZz

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Post 08 Sep 2013, 19:28

Re: KaM and K'nex?

The photos have been published on our Fan Art section :)

http://www.knightsandmerchants.net/fan-creations/art/
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woloszek

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Post 08 Sep 2013, 19:45

Re: KaM and K'nex?

The photos have been published on our Fan Art section :)

http://www.knightsandmerchants.net/fan-creations/art/
Nice (H)
Could you add information to what country from these people? :wink:
Wut? :$

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