Carcassonne Central

Hi, I'm new here.  First post.  I've played C maybe a half-dozen times in the past 6 months.

The title is probably not self-explanatory, so I'll try to explain.  In the games I've played, usually on a dining room table or cardtable, it seems that a lot of time is spent nudging tiles around to keep them aligned, and it becomes a major operation if the map has to be re-centered on the table if it expands near the edge.

So what I've made up to relieve this, is a flat plastic grid, with small ridges, that holds a 3x3 grid of tile pieces in place.  The ridges hold them aligned, but they are easy to place and remove from the grid.  The ridges space the tiles about 1mm apart.  When the map expands, another 3x3 grid snaps lightly into place.  A set of nine grids would hold most of most games, though more grids could be used.  I intend to make the grids in a light green plastic, so that the ridges detract from the map as little as possible.

We used a couple of preliminary grids in a game last week and they seemed to work well.  I'm going to make up a full set of at least nine for a game this Saturday, and we'll give a fully gridded map a try.  I'll get some pictures of the grids in use then and post them.

Any thoughts?  Improvements?  Dumb idea?  Is this something the marketplace would be interested in? 

Gary

I would be interested to see pictures.

Our trial run using the grids on a full game worked very well.  We could have used a few more grids (we used eighteen 3x3), but it's not a problem to lay tiles off the grid.  Overall there was a lot less fussing with bumping, aligning, and rearranging the tiles.  The tiles were easy to place and pick up if you were just trying a trial placement, and they stayed in place nicely.  Before we had the extra tiles off the grid, it was easy to slide the whole grid of tiles around on the table as desired.

I have pictures to post, but I'm getting a message that 'the upload folder is full.'  I'll try again later.

Gary

Mind the gap.  ;D

I'm definitely interested since I was trying to figure out a good grid system for this game.  I sent you a message on how to post pics.  Check your "My Messages" at the top.  Welcome to the site and thanks for your contribution!

Playing with grids:

(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5032/7162888084_7013dd0e9c_m.jpg)(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7162888546_f45b93646d_m.jpg)(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/7162888844_cc454a5d48_m.jpg)(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7162889234_8721f59522_m.jpg)

Our trial run using the grids on a full game worked very well.  We could have used a few more grids (we used eighteen 3x3), but it's not a problem to lay tiles off the grid.  Overall there was a lot less fussing with bumping, aligning, and rearranging the tiles.  The tiles were easy to place and pick up if you were just trying a trial placement, and they stayed in place nicely.  Before we had the extra tiles off the grid, it was easy to slide the whole grid of tiles around on the table as desired.

My friends appropriated all of those grids, but I've got some green plastic now and will be making another batch.

Gary

Any chance you can post larger pics??  It looks this system worked out well, other than maybe not having enough.

Hi Gary,

I think they look great! Good work!!

For me though, part of the fun is 'nudging' the tiles around.

It's interesting at my house, sometimes people like it nice and neat (like me), others don't mind if it is a little askew.

I wondered about that, hence the original question.  It's the 'organic' vs. the 'regimented' look.  I suspected tastes would vary.

Thanks,

Gary

Higher rez photos; details:

I was pleased that the grids laid perfectly flat:
     (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7175087122_3f7fb0ae6a_b.jpg)

The tiles in the grid are spaced a little bit more than 1mm apart; for tiles on adjacent grids, the tile spacing is still 1mm:
     (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7214/7175093402_953f781c8f_b.jpg)

The tiles sit on the base cross members of the grid, and the height of the ridges between tiles is lower than the tile thickness:
     (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8011/7175093112_7c5a829140_b.jpg)

A small dovetail on each edge snaps them together:
     (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7081/7175093956_c36b8d2b50_b.jpg)

As you might have already guessed, and it's obvious from the close pictures, that these were made on a 3D plastic extrusion printer.  The surface looks ridged and rough in the close pictures, but they are really fairly smooth to the touch.  I expect I'll add a few more tiny details, and as I've mentioned, the next ones will be in green plastic.  I'm thinking of making some bridges, perhaps a slightly more realistic shape, that will have a small ridge that fits into the gap between the gridded tiles, thus keeping them in place as well.

Gary

That is really fantastic! Merit point for you with pleasure!

Excellent work.  Those are very nice indeed.  Merit from me as well and welcome to the forums.

The file for printing the grids has been placed on Thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:25158 (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:25158)

Gary