Mar. 2, 2015 | By Simon

For legions of gamers, one of the most favored features in video games is the option to customize your own avatars, vehicles and other aspects of a game that make the experience feel more personal and genuine.  Between using face scanners to use your own face as a video game character or using in-game credits to purchase ‘after market’ features for vehicles, the options for customization are seemingly endless.  But for some gamers, preserving these customized experiences beyond just their screen is almost just as important and thanks to 3D printing, this has never been easier.

More recently, those who invest their time building spaceships and rockets using NASA-approved real-world physics in the game Kerbal Space Program will be able to 3D print their customized designs using the EUCL3D 3D printing service provider - who themselves are focused around 3D printing video game merchandise.   

While the game is known for being a space travel simulator, it is also well-known for its ability to let users create their own spacecraft designs that use real-world aerodynamics and engineering principles for optimizing designs.  Due to the implementation of real-world physics into the game, piloting a successful mission with a spacecraft of one’s own design is much more of a feat than simply using a pre-built aircraft supplied by the game developers.  In essence, successfully piloting a mission is reason enough to warrant having a 3D printed figure to commemorate the experience.  

For those who choose to preserve their successful experience with their spacecraft design, Eucl3D has began offering a service to 3D print the design for a $99 flat fee.  Due to their decision to print in sandstone or wax, the final 3D prints are able to preserve intricate details and colors that would otherwise be lost through other 3D printing methods.    

All that a Kerbal Space Program gamer needs for printing their own special 3D printed trophy is the .craft file that contains the data for their spacecraft design.

Although getting the final design printed is a relatively straight-forward process, Eucl3D stresses in their design guidelines that a user should focus on ensuring that the model has no structural weaknesses.  Specific to Kerbal Space Program, these are likely to be found in the launch clamps, long girders supporting large parts, long struts and fuel lines.  The company has kindly supplied an image for others to use as reference to ensure that their final design is capable of being printed without structural weaknesses:

Although this isn’t the first time we’ve seen 3D prints that have come out of video game content creation, it is among the closest we’ve seen that both highlights a user-created design as well as an in-game achievement - essentially the 3D print makes for a great trophy for triumph in gameplay.  

To try out the game for yourself, be sure to head over to Kerbal Space Program.  If you happen to successfully launch your spacecraft, head over to Eucl3D to get a sandstone 3D print made of your real-world physics-proven spacecraft!

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

Maybe you also like:


   


AMnerd wrote at 3/5/2015 3:03:11 PM:

I hope more game developers start offering this opportunity! I would love to print characters from lots of games that I have put hundreds of hours into.



Leave a comment:

Your Name:

 


Subscribe us to

3ders.org Feeds 3ders.org twitter 3ders.org facebook   

About 3Ders.org

3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.

News Archive