3D-Printed Dune Chess Set

https://parametric-architecture.com/3d-printed-dune-chess-set-by-rory-noble-turner/

by gnabgib • 2 years ago

241 71 2 years ago

I won't discredit how beautiful this set turned out, but by my eyes the pieces are not particularly easy to (quickly) distinguish from one another (i.e. rook vs pawn vs bishop). Gorgeous to look at though!

kibwen• 2 years ago

Upvoted because as a work of art it's beautiful and as a product of technology it's neat to see that printing with quartz is possible. But it must be said that the distinguishability of the pieces is lacking.

aziaziazi2• 2 years ago

I thought the same in picture but in the article author says he used different texture (one smooth and one rippled) for both parties. I give I’m the benefit of the doubt because fine texture can appear very different in reality than photo.

Edit:

For a game of chess to function effectively it’s crucial you clearly differentiate between both opposition pieces, and, the alternate spaces on which those pieces play. In a mono-material set such as this, a binary contrast between rippled and smooth surfaces (reflective of the contrasting states of sand) become the primary signifier of this difference.

krisoft2• 2 years ago

I see the rippling and the smooth pieces, that one is ok. For me what is hard to distinguish are the individual pieces from each other within one colour. The knight from the bishop from the pawn, etc. It is possible to figure them out, but at least for me I can't see it at a glance. I have to think about it and compare them. (whereas with a more traditional set I see it immediately)

thousand_nights• 2 years ago

i was gifted a glass set once where black's pieces were matte glass and white's pieces were clear glass, so quite a striking texture difference

it was still unplayable and more of a decoration

bigstrat2003• 2 years ago

I read that but I honestly can't see any difference in the photos they gave. You're right that it might be different in person.

amelius• 2 years ago

I guess you can get the same effect by just printing with good old PLA, and then dipping it into glue and then into sand.

HWR_14• 2 years ago

That's a great idea. Do you have any other ideas for finishing the other half of the pieces. Graphite seems too messy, and I'm not sure the different sands will look different enough.

I imagine the details that currently (and insufficiently in my opinion) distinguish the colors would be obliterated.

tigrezno2• 2 years ago

or any PLA plastic since you're covering it in sand

SystemOut• 2 years ago

Fuzzy skin finish might also get you pretty close along with a wood PLA. They can do both wall and top layer fuzzy skin now.

Vox_Leone• 2 years ago

Just beautiful. We are experimenting with ceramic gelcasting lately[1]. It involves the use of a gel-based slurry, typically made by mixing ceramic powders (such as zirconia, alumina, or silicon carbide) with a liquid binder and a gelling agent in a 3D printed mold. It is a versatile manufacturing method used to create complex ceramic parts.

Upon reading the article it occurred to me that the same method could be used to make those kinds of "dune core" pieces, with sand instead of ceramic powders. There must be a sand-binder-gelling solution formulation that can handle the task.

[1]https://voxleone.com/2024/03/05/3d-printing-im-making-a-500c...

johanneskanybal• 2 years ago

I mean we all saw that but the entire text was about that they are very different because they feel different. Doubt you read it.

knifie_spoonie• 2 years ago

I think the parent commenter did read that and their concern is that tournament chess has a touch-move rule (if you touch a piece you have to move it).

This set is certainly a cool art piece, but not particularly functional if a player has trouble distinguishing pieces visually.

The queen looks like a slightly larger version of the bishop (or is that the knight?), I could see someone confusing them if they're sitting at different levels.

jdietrich• 2 years ago

Novelty sets like these are deeply unpleasant for regular chess players, because they interfere with normal pattern recognition. There's a huge difference between being able to tell the pieces apart and being able to read the board at a glance. It's like reading a book in bad handwriting instead of clear type - you can decode it with enough effort, but you can't read fluently or scan the text.

dheera• 2 years ago

Makes the game more interesting. As long as both sides are equally handicapped it’s fine.

b112• 2 years ago

I'd actually prefer a Dune2000 derived chess set.

swiftcoder3• 2 years ago

Gorgeous, but I'd love to see some actual differentiation of form between the various pieces - going to the obvious source of inspiration, sand worms, stillsuits, the rocks of the seitch, and the insect-like forms of the ornithopter all could lend form to the pieces.

pdpi2• 2 years ago

It's "dune" as in a pile of sand, not "Dune" as in the novel.

swiftcoder3• 2 years ago

Yeah, I get that, but the mental association is there already, might as well lean into it

daotoad• 2 years ago

Is it? Every usage of the word "dune" is capitalized in both the article and the link.

I clicked through because I was hoping to see something related to the book or movies, or even the Jodorowsky project that never materialized.

accrual• 2 years ago

It's a beautiful set, I like how each side was translated to smooth/rippled and the textures are very pleasing to look at - like a miniature playable cast of desert characters. I agree the pieces are a bit difficult to distinguish though, especially the queen and bishops which seem to mostly differ in height but not so much in form.

thorin• 2 years ago

Would be nice to see a Battle Chess [1] version of this!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Chess

KMnO4• 2 years ago

Reminding me that this was a thing was a wonderful holiday gift. Thank you!

thesuitonym• 2 years ago

That article has the longest path to Philosophy that I've ever seen.

d--b• 2 years ago

To me, this is the worst kind of design.

1. Aesthetics completely annihilates function. I mean good luck figuring the pieces apart.

2. To me it looks like shit. I mean the pieces look ok-ish (I don't really like the curve stuff, I think they could be a lot better, but ok), but the board, oh my god it's hideous. The idea of the curved board is so bad. ugh. It's sad though cause the material is awesome.

Come on architects, you can do a lot better than that.

nottorp• 2 years ago

1. Aesthetics completely annihilates function. I mean good luck figuring the pieces apart.

It's very modern. Like those web sites that are light grey on darker grey. And the fact that you can't see if a square is white or black when a piece is on it is like they hide interactable elements in web 3.99 or whatever they're at now.

spaintech• 2 years ago

Dito on the upvote, esthetics are pleasing and I love the transition of the board. Not sure if that was sand or not… but now in hunting for the files… would make a nice gift for a friend that has it all, rated at 2000+ in chest.

voidUpdate• 2 years ago

I can feel the texture of that in my spine just looking at the pictures :/ I don't think I'd ever want to touch any of that

CodeCompost• 2 years ago

Makes me think of Bugles Corn Chips.

breckenedge• 2 years ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20241217125401/https://parametri...

wklauss• 2 years ago

More decorative than functional but beautiful nontheless and could be iterated to make it a better chess set. Maybe mixing different types of sand as a finishing coat on the pieces? (vocanic and coral for the pieces and quartz sand for the board)

cies• 2 years ago

There is a whole market for chessboards that are not actually useful.

I prefer the official sizes/shapes.

btbuildem• 2 years ago

The artist definitely captured the atmosphere of the recent movies. Bravo!

One thing that immediately jumps out at me about this chessboard is the use of varied ground plane -- how the back rows are high up, whereas the middle of the board is down below. The high ground really evokes a sense of power of the "senior" pieces, and casts the middle rows below as the inevitable battleground. One can imagine pieces mounting an uphill attack in the later stages of the game. Such a simple thing, and so effective!

eleveriven3• 2 years ago

A layer of metaphorical depth

idunnoman1222• 2 years ago

they could’ve made the board have different texture as well? Well, there’s no STL so no one will ever even be able to use this might as well have left it as a 3-D render

snapetom2• 2 years ago

Sure, the article positions it as an art piece, but you're right. The fact that there is no STL puts this in the "ok cool. Next." bucket for the the vast majority of the 3d printing community.

gorbachev• 2 years ago

btw, on sale at https://www.sandhelden.de/product-page/dune-chess-set for 3490 euros.

edm0nd• 2 years ago

this price point is straight delusional imo

tigrezno2• 2 years ago

that's normal price for art though, any rich guy can afford it very easily

snapetom2• 2 years ago

Hopefully someone puts up knock off STLs in Makersworld, thingiverse, etc after this.

0x38B2• 2 years ago

Amidst this decline of everyday physical sensation; the Dune Chess Set represents an investigation into themes of tactility and intimacy in an attempt to catalyse connection between users, their bodies, and the world around them

This is either a human writing overly complex, abstract prose, or an LLM. I’d hoped for interesting text to accompany the admittedly very unique chess set, but this is just overwrought and abstract for no good reason.

handsaway• 2 years ago

This feels very similar to the register used on placards in contemporary art museums to me so I don't think there's reason to suspect an LLM.

0x38B2• 2 years ago

Hm, fair point. All the AI-mania going on has me on edge, I suppose.

sleepybrett• 2 years ago

I was hoping that someone had created a ruleset and prop reproduction of the 'chess' of the dune universe 'cheops'. The prop from dune 2 is so great but barely seen on screen: https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Cheops?file=Cheops_chess_game_c...

It's got a nice 'go' feel especially with the bowls of pieces, that engraved board is great.. just a great prop. Big ups to the production designers.

cryptozeus• 2 years ago

Possible gameplay addition in dune chess where certain piece ends up on a certain square and gets eaten by the worm

ccozan• 2 years ago

Btw, is there any tabletop Dune game?

jflans• 2 years ago

There is - Dune Imperium (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/316554/dune-imperium). It is quite good.

ddlutz• 2 years ago

I couldn't find it in the article, maybe I missed it, but does anybody have more information on the printer / material used besides just quartz?

koinedad• 2 years ago

Really cool design

Terr_• 2 years ago

Now I'm wondering about a gameplay twist "Arrakis Chess": Too much movement in a section of the board makes a 2x2 sandworm eat the pieces.

wkat4242• 2 years ago

Wow that's beautiful.

Can you download this somewhere? I don't see it.

engineer_22• 2 years ago

Architects really know how to run with the purple prose.

Edit: cool looking chess set.

snthpy• 2 years ago

I imagine it might take a bit to get used to the different shapes but I quite like the idea of having different elevation for the ranks. I think that would help learners develop a more intuitive understanding of their importance. Something I'm only acquiring now as I'm teaching my children.

eleveriven3• 2 years ago

Any new chess set with unfamiliar designs takes a bit of adjustment

eleveriven3• 2 years ago

Wow, this is a beautiful concept and execution! For me it’s a piece of art that challenges our relationship with materials in a way

teleforce• 2 years ago

Very nice looking movie theme chess set.

This Rook Tower theme pack-away wooden chess board is also wonderfully designed for aesthetic:

https://odditymall.com/rook-tower-pack-away-wooden-chess-boa...

3D-Printed Dune Chess Set

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