On the eve of LEGO Universe’s closing, we sit down with one of the game’s idea designers, Robert Rayhawk, who displays off some of the game’s magnificent idea art. Along the way, we ask him concerns about the game’s progression procedure, what it was like to develop, and why he was so energized about where the experience was going before it was turn down.
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Mike Rayhawk, artist: Ninjago is developed intensely on the five traditional components everyone honors from childhood: namely, Soil, Fireplace, Ice, Super, and Ninjas. In the caverns we really desired to force Planet’s basic attributes, Rolex Datejust replica watches the same as we were trying to do for Fireplace in the fireplace region pictures. I was looking at a lot of church decorations and missing wats for referrals, trying to catch that feeling of severity and antiquity.
We used an terrible lot of caverns in past planets [before the Ninjago expansion] to split up the experience places, but they were kept very generic—we desired to keep players’ concentrate on the next set element or obstacle, rather than providing them factors to hold around in the transition places. Ninjago was initially the caverns themselves got to take middle stage.
PCG: Was there ever a factor in progression that you developed something considered “too scary” or “gruesome” for the game’s targeted audience?
Rayhawk: It’s crazy you are asking about these pictures in particular, since these are the toned-down variations. The pink air were a concession I had to create for the youthful audience; initially they were nothing but roiling connection and cinders. At least one edition had a god-like He Seabury (our innovative manager at the time) massive over the skyline and throwing fireballs down from on higher, in a identical connection to what I think about prevails in the actual world between most toys and games and their people.
I was always forcing to create the look of the experience more impressive and more terrifying, because I desired to provide some actual bodyweight to the challenges of these boxy rainbow-colored plastic material results. In common, I was more effective promoting everybody on the impressive than on the terrifying, especially after the children in the boards began admonishing us for going a little too grimdark with the Nexus Excellent bring up to date. Nexus Excellent and the Examine Manager fight, in particular, I considered were creatively more frightening than any of the fireplace region ideas, with or without a wrathful Seabury growing cost.
PCG: Was it a amazing modify to be able to concentrate entirely on lava and the elements?
Rayhawk: To a stage, but fire planets have been done to dying, and at time we were not quite far enough along with ours to decide anything novel to really set it apart yet.
PCG: If not fire, additionally your preferred modify that Ninjago’s new establishing taken to the game?
Rayhawk: All of our articles in the first season was structured around a type of theme-park cosmetic. Especially for the youthful gamers, we desired to provide them with the biggest wide range of activities in the least period. Consequently, the stage styles and pursuit stores finished up being type of schizophrenically unique in places—you’d have a helpful platforming competition, followed by a deadly superior fight, followed by a provide of no cost topiary and a guide on how to change it. The not enough any ahead emergency was amazing in that it offered children the independence to leap around between all the different places and actions, but it created it hard to provide the impressive “defeat the Maelstrom” sensation.
Ninjago was where I think we converted the part. We’d developed up enough theme-park content to fulfill the youthful children’s need for early-game convenience and depth of articles, and now we could lastly dig in and create planets with more time vision and story arcs to fulfill gamers more in the greater 50 % of the targeted age team.

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