Australian Lego designer Melody Caddick holds a Lego Koala at the the company's headquarters in Denmark. Lego backs down on Ai Weiwei bulk ban NGV sets up first Lego drop-off point for Ai Weiwei outside of Beijing Lego refuses to supply bricks for Weiwei installation because of 'political context' Melody Caddick is rapidly assembling a Lego koala.She designed it, a nod to her Australian roots, but she has moved on to other projects now, and she actually has to keep checking the instruction booklet for how to put the piece together.We meet the 40-year-old Queenslander at Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark, but not in her office.Not even her partner is allowed in there.Young children can enter the design team's work area, but otherwise it is out of bounds because of commercial secrecy. I got out the atlas and I looked at the atlas and it's like, 'OK, we're here and Denmark's all the way over there. Ms Caddick is one of those rare people doing the job they dreamed of as a young child.
It began when she was six years old, when she received her first Lego set as a gift from her grandparents.So besotted was she with the toy, that even at that age she began thinking about how she could one day get to Lego headquarters and secure a job there.At that point, it seemed like a pie-in-the-sky dream."I got out the atlas and I looked at the atlas and it's like, 'OK, we're here and Denmark's all the way over there'," she said."It's a long distance, so I didn't think anything would ever eventuate into anything."But her love of Lego and her desire to work there never dimmed, and Ms Caddick became what is referred to as an AFOL — that's an Adult Fan of Lego, for the uninitiated. A freshly made box of green Lego produced at the headquarters in Denmark. AFOLs collect sets, build, design and communicate with one another through online forums and magazines.There are thousands of them around the world, but very few get to work at Lego.Ms Caddick achieved her dream by first relocating to Europe and then getting a foot in the door at Lego as a personal assistant.
Then she, like all other hopefuls, had to submit a portfolio of her work and get through several days of rigorous recruitment workshops. I think it's a job that a lot of people, also internally in the Lego group are quite envious about. When she got the call saying she had been successful, she could hardly believe her luck."I remember the phone conversation and I remember thinking, 'Really? No way'," she recalled.She still loves her work with a passion."Sometimes it's actually very hard to leave for the day," she said.A Lego designer is a highly prized position, and not just outside the company."I think it's a job that a lot of people, also internally in the Lego group, are quite envious about," company spokesman Roar Rude Trangbaek said."I would love to work as a Lego designer, but I am simply not creative enough or good enough a builder to do that." An automated machine at the Lego factory that gathers fresh batches of bricks. Lego is sold in more than 140 countries, and in 2014 net profits were up around 15 per cent to $1.5 billion.
Not bad for a company still in family ownership, which began producing wooden toys in the 1930s.But plastic slowly replaced the wood, and Lego's success grew and grew. If you want to boil [the company's struggles in the nineties] down to one thing, it is probably that we lost faith in the Lego brick. Turn the clock back 20 years or so however, and times had become tough."If you want to boil it down to one thing, it is probably that we lost faith in the Lego brick," Mr Trangbaek said.A period of diversification followed, with the company investing in Lego parks, books, branded clothing and computer games."All of these things combined made a cocktail that wasn't really good for the company," Mr Trangbaek said.These days Lego is focusing on its core business again, leaving the spin-offs to commercial partners."A part of our turnaround, which began in 2003 to 2004, was actually refocusing on what Lego play is all about," Mr Trangbaek said.Lego saw itself slammed in the media last year after it refused to supply bricks for an artwork by Ai Weiwei for the National Gallery of Victoria, because the company said it did not support projects which could be seen as political statements.
Earlier this month, Lego revealed to the ABC that it had changed the policy in the wake of that controversy, and in future would supply orders for such projects as long as the buyer agreed to state that Lego did not endorse any resulting public works.But the company denied the negative headlines harmed business, saying its 2015 results due out in early March will prove otherwise.That is music to the ears of Ms Caddick, who said she would never leave Lego's corner of Denmark."This is where Lego is, so this is where I am," she said. "As long as they're there, I'm there."Spojit Hv�zdn� v�lky a stavebnici Lego? Pro� ho to napadlo? Jak ho to napadlo? Je�t� �e ho to napadlo! Prvn� idea nezn�la n�jak �chvatn� – zkombinovat filmov� sv�t Star Wars s�nejobl�ben�j�� stavebnic� na sv�t�. Zn�lo to jednodu�e jako snaha vyml�tit z�fanou�k� obou fenom�n� jejich ve�ker� �spory. To ale byla myln� domn�nka, sv�te div se, i p�esto, �e jen zvu�nost obou aspekt� (v�ichni v�me, �e cokoliv s�n�lepkou Hv�zdn� v�lky �i Lego jde na dra�ku jedn� radost) by zajistila vysokou prodejnost, v�voj��sk� studio se sna�ilo, jak to jen �lo a vypustilo do sv�ta titul, kter� p�ekvapil skv�lou hratelnost� a extr�mn� vysokou z�bavnost�.
P��b�h se dr�� filmov�ch p�edloh, jak to jen jde, a vy tak m�te �anci zas�hnout do t�m�� v�ech kl��ov�ch moment�, kter� ze Star Wars zn�te.. P�vodn� bylo inspirov�no novou filmovou trilogi�, tedy epizodou I a� III. A samoz�ejm� �e pot�, co hr��i dokon�ili , za�ali volat po pokra�ov�n�, kter� by mapovalo p�vodn� filmy. Kdy� fanou�ek vol� (respektive, kdy� jich vol� hodn�), vydavatel r�d poslouch�. Pr�ce na Lego Star Wars II odstartovaly a my u� jsme jen napjat� �ekali, jak to dopadne. Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Lando, �vejk a dal�� a dal�� postavy z�epizod IV a� VI u� se u� tak� mohou proh�n�t po sv�t� vystav�n�m z�kostek Lega. P��b�h se dr�� filmov�ch p�edloh, jak to jen jde, a vy tak m�te �anci zas�hnout do t�m�� v�ech kl��ov�ch moment�, kter� ze Star Wars zn�te. V�t�inou proch�z�te se skupinou hrdin� (jejich maxim�ln� po�et je 6 a to, kolik se jich na misi vyd�, rozhodne hra za v�s), jejich� c�lem je splnit jednoduch�, ale z�bavn� �koly.
Tedy, jejich proveden� jednoduch� je, ale n�kdy je (ne p��li� �asto) docela fu�ka p�ij�t na to, co d�l. N�pov�da nebo samotn� �e�en� se ov�em skr�v� n�kde pobl��, a tak sta�� d�vat pozor na okol� a zamyslet se nad t�m, co kter� postava um�. Postavy, kter� se vyd�vaj� nap��� levelem si nevyb�r�te vy, ale jsou v�m p�id�leny. Vy si mezi nimi m��ete p�ep�nat, co� nen� mo�nost, ale nutnost, proto�e stejn� jako v�minul� h�e, i tentokr�t je naprosto nutn� kooperace mezi t�mi, kter� m�te s sebou. Zat�mco Luke m��e s�pomoc� S�ly pohybovat s�jinak nedostupn�mi p�edm�ty, Leia nebo Han jsou schopn� st�elci, R2D2 nebo C-3PO zase dok��� vstoupit do po��ta�ov�ch syst�m�, z�stupce Ewok� je drobn� a dok��e se dostat tam, kam jin� nemohou a podobn�. V�ichni nakonec p�ilo�� ruku k�d�lu. Hern� doba je o tro�ku del�� ne� v prvn� h�e.
Pom�r akce a adventurn�ch prvk� je odhadem 40 : 60. �asto se dostanete do p�est�elky a mus�te likvidovat Stormtroopery, ale je�t� �ast�ji mus�te prov�d�t nen�siln� �innosti. Skl�d�te dohromady r�zn� p�edm�ty, kter� umo�n� cestu d�l, sk��ete z�plo�inky na plo�inku �i hled�te skryt� kosti�ky Lega. Okol� je slu�n� interaktivn�, tak�e neust�le bu�to bojujete nebo pracujete na tom, abyste se dostali d�l. Jist� �e nejen po sv�ch. Nebyly by to Hv�zdn� v�lky, kdyby se odehr�valy jen na zemi. U�ijete si i bitev ve vesm�ru, nasednete do X-Wingu nebo do Millenium Falcona a polet�te vst��c imperi�ln�m k�i�n�k�m nebo dokonce samotn� Hv�zd� smrti. Na ovl�d�n� kosmick�ch lod� si budete muset chvili�ku zvykat, ale za p�r okam�ik� u� se budete proh�n�t ve vesm�ru, jako byste tam byli pe�en� va�en�. Ani na povrchu planet nebudete v�dy unavovat jen um�lohmotn� nohy sv�ch postav, ale svezete se na speederu nebo m��ete vl�zt i do AT-ST. Nen� to �ast� z�le�itost, ale ob�as tu �anci dostanete.
Hern� doba je o tro�ku del�� ne� v�prvn� h�e (je�t� aby ne, jej� kr�tkost byla jedna z�m�la v�c�, kter� byly na Lego Star Wars kritizov�ny), ale po��d je�t� mluv�me o �esti a� sedmi hodin�ch na prvn� dohr�n�. Z�m�rn� uv�d�me „prvn�“, proto�e pokud chcete z�skat hromadu bonus�, kter� titul nab�z�, tak si mus�te levely proj�t n�kolikr�t. Ur�it� oblasti jsou toti� dostupn� jen s�n�kter�mi charaktery, kter� z�sk�te a� po dohr�n� (nebo je dostanete v�kant�n�, kde nakupujete postavy, vylep�en� nebo tipy pro hran� za pen�ze, kter� jsou v�ude po levelech). Znovu se pustit do hran� je tak t�m�� nutnost�. Co se kut� u Lucase? George Lucas sice prohl�sil, �e ve�ker� filmy z�prost�ed� Star Wars u� jsou nato�en�, �e dal�� pokra�ov�n� nepl�nuje, ale to neznamen�, �e by se na n�s krom� hromady komiks�, suven�r� a dal��ch prodejn�ch artikl� nechystaly i n�jak� dal�� projekty.
Po vele�sp��n� animovan� s�rii Star Wars: Clone Wars, kter� propojila druhou a t�et� epizodu, se p�ipravuji dal�� dv� televizn� �ady. Jedna hran�, jedna ztv�rn�n� pomoc� animace. Zat�m se zd�, �e animovan� s�rie se neobjev� d��ve ne� v�roce 2008 a hran� dokonce a� o rok pozd�ji. P�isl�beno je i vyd�n� epizod IV – VI v�digit�ln� neupraven� podob�. Samoz�ejm� �e se ale chystaj� i dal�� hry, o kter�ch v�s ur�it� budeme informovat. Obt��nost jako takov� nen� ani nijak vysok�, ani p��li� n�zk�. Stane se, �e v�s „zabij�“, ale jedin�m efektem je to, �e se zasa�en� figurka rozpadne na mal� kosti�ky a vysypou se z�n� pen�ze. To ale neznamen�, �e si nemus�te d�vat pozor na to, aby v�s nikdo nezas�hl. Pokud zrovna n�co skl�d�te a ubudou v�m v�echna �ty�i srd��ka zna��c� zdrav�, tak pot�, co se op�t objev�te fit a plastov�, tak mus�te za��t skl�dat znovu.
Co ��ct ke grafice? Jen snad to, �e je asi takov�, jako kdy� slo��te sv�t Hv�zdn�ch v�lek z�Lega. P�sob� to infantiln�, ale n�co do sebe to m�. O tom, �e zvukov� efekty a hudba budou kvalitn� se nedalo v�bec pochybovat. Origin�ln� filmov� melodie jsou samoz�ejmost� a ani po n�kolika des�tk�ch let neomrz� a maj� st�le stejnou s�lu a �dernost. V�udyp��tomn� je d�tinsk�, ale neodolateln� humor, kter� se objev� snad v��pln� ka�d� animaci, kter�ch je tu dost a dost. Ur�it� se mnohokr�t zasm�jte a nadhled, kter� hra nab�z� si zamilujete. Jedinou men�� v�tku m�me ke kame�e. Ta je ob�as malinko nep�ehledn� a komplikuje hran�, ale je to opravdu jenJinak jsme naprosto spokojeni, i kdy� ve sv� podstat� tu nen� oproti p�vodn�mi d�lu t�m�� nic nov�ho (samoz�ejm� krom� v�t�iny postav a p��b�hu). To ale vlastn� nen� tak �pln� pravda.
V�hern�ch principech sice nen� nic odli�n�ho od Lego Star Wars, ale v�e je o n�co intenzivn�j��. Neust�le m�te co d�lat a to, �e byste se jen tak poflakovali po okol�, se jen tak nestane. Nemysl�me si, �e jde o ark�du �ist� pro d�ti, ale p�ece jen, je ur�ena i pro n�, tak�e jsou mise line�rn�. Co� n�m ale hran� n�jak neznep��jemnilo. Naopak, d�ky tomu v�e l�pe „ods�palo“. Dob�e �e�eny jsou souboje s�bossy (jasn�, �e zk����te me� i s�imper�torem Palpatinem), kter� nejsou vystav�ny jen na tom, abyste trefili protivn�ka co nej�ast�ji, ale ne� je St�le je�t� kr�tk� hern� doba v�m to umo�n�no, mus�te �asto spolupracovat s�n�k�m ze sv�ho doprovodu. Ztv�rn�n� origin�ln� trilogie se povedlo, je del��, je o n�co z�bavn�j�� ne� prvn� d�l, ale zachov�no z�stalo p�vodn�Mo�n� to bude odv��n� tvrzen�, ale mysl�me si, �e Lego Star Wars: The Original Trilogy je jednou z�v�bec nejz�bavn�j��ch her z�prost�ed� Star Wars.