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  • Hidden Door in Hirst Blocks

    Posted on November 2nd, 2003 Rob No comments

    Just a quick write-up on a test for a working hidden door using HirstArts block. I like functional or multipurpose dungeon pieces. Several parts of my dungeon sections have hidden passages and removeable sections. None of them are "working" bits though. I'm swamped with work, which is normal, so tend to take shortcuts. I wish I had time to try carving custom blocks. *sigh*

    I thought that door that swung "up" rather than rotated on a horizontal plane would be neat. I pictured massive hidden doors moved by chains, walls that would slam shut, etc. Unfortunately, hidden doors need to disappear in the surrounding terrain to be effective. Problem is, when you rotate a square block, its wider on the diagonal than it is on the straight sides. If you round the block, it no longer vanishes unless you also make an inside curve on wall. Like this:

    WALL( (DOOR) )WALL

    This would rotate 360° if the pivot point was centered. You could also make a one way door if you did this:

    WALL\ \DOOR\ \WALL

    Taking that concept and rotating it, I thought this would work:

    Since this was just a test, I used scrap blocks and only gave my black Flowstone a single dose of Brown Ink. Here is the wall with the door closed:

    The door swivels up. I propped it up with a brass rod for this pic but a small spear would probably look cool:

    Since it works, I'm going to build a larger, more seamless version in to a room. Im just trying to figure out what theme to build around it.

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