So, there's this "design/construction/simulation" game called Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 that I like to fire up every six months, or so. From an isometric viewpoint, you can create rides, buildings, paths, all sorts of things. For buildings and structures, the objects that you can use are vast. People can even create objects and "hook" them into the game. It's really quite fun, and the creative possibilities are almost endless.
Anyway, to prove that my passion for Magnum knows no bounds, I've been designing Robin's Nest with this thing. Because of a few limitations in the way these isometric objects work, I'm not able to create an exact replica, but I think it's somewhat close. I've made a few minor changes to some of the buildings and I've purchased the property on both sides of the estate, to 1) make the estate slightly bigger, and 2) eventually build a visitor center on the north end. Heh.
Main House, driveway side
Main House, lawn side
Guesthouse/Boathouse & Tennis Courts
Entrance & Gatehouse/Caretaker's House
Sara Clifford, the "Woman on the Beach"!
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:43 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Magnum: So far this case had cost me my right to the wine cellar, the last cash in my pocket, and nearly my life. If that clerk was lying to me, I was gonna come back down here and shove that Robin Masters paperback in his ear!
That is just great! I just wish there were a way to "integrate" it into MS Flight Simulator! I still haven't had much success with the estate in that "game." And my version of it in MSFS was rather crummy -- again, not the right "buildings" to work with.
Oh, well, I guess we just have to drool over the estate in reruns and Hawaii Five-O, when it really looked its best.
I'm almost afraid to go see it "in person." I'm afraid I might be rather disappointed, and I KNOW I would be frustrated that I couldn't get in and wander the grounds.
Now, what EYE wish someone would do is put the interior sets in some kind of visitor's museum that fans and tourists COULD go through. I would happily pay to visit a museum-type (à la the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Mass.) building with the interior sets from the show in different rooms, which, of course, WEREN'T the real rooms at the estate, but they are the ones we are most familiar with.
However, if like with most TV shows once they end, the sets are "struck" (broken up and carted away), so the interiors most likely no longer exist. So, along that line, wouldn't it be fun to find a MPI Museum in Honolulu that you could visit and go through and pretend you're walking through the rooms of the estate? Heck, even make one room in the basement Thomas' apartment in the guest/boathouse. Someone could make a bundle doing this! And the people who sell the memorabilia (e.g., mauishirts.com for the parrot shirt) could have a gift shop in one room, Larry Manetti's book would need to be re-issued (and he'd be happy about that because he'd be making money!). The potential is unlimited!
Okay, that's what I'll do when I win the lottery -- create an MPI Museum!
Heck, Tom Selleck has the funds and is always looking to make money. He should build it and "they will come." However, it really would have to be IN Hawaii. It wouldn't be nearly the draw in L.A. that it would be in Honolulu, don't you all think?
Hey, thanks guys. It really is fun to build stuff like this with this game. I feel like a kid again, if only for a brief moment.
IslandHopper wrote:Are you going to add Higgins, Magnum and crew? Or, maybe Kenji with his trimmer?
Oh, I didn't create any custom objects. That's a whole other ballgame. You have to create/draw an object from four different sides, with everything lining up correctly. And everything has to be scaled just right. It's tedious and very time consuming. I just used other people's objects (and the one's that came with the game, of course).
It would be very cool to have Magnum and gang, though.
Very nice James, you did a great job.
And Golf, I guarantee you wouldn't be dissapoined if and when you and your Husband make it to The Estate. I think James can confirm that the excitement builds after you do the front gate thing in which you can not see much of anything. Events speed up and as James so aptly put, you get sensory overload as you go farther on down to the Park, walk up the beach, start seeing rabbit island of in the distance, the coral rocks forming the tidal pool, the square concrete piece TM would drink his Coops on and then the beach, gate and walkway up to the grounds. Granted, the folliage is grown over so you can't see everything, but as a Magnum fan, you see enough to wet your whistle no matter what shape it is in now.
I would love for someone to interview Ms. Anderson about the property, her experiences with the H50 & Magnum filming crews, and if she ever appeared as an extra in either production.
A "Souvenir Boutique", I like that idea! I'll add that to the "Making of Magnum P.I." Cinema, the "Ferrari Chase" motion simulator and the "Macho Tacos" restaurant!
ruber chicken wrote:You obviously like to think big.
In the world of RCT2, a 6-acre creation is small (but not without merit). You should see some of the stuff these guys build - huge amusement parks filled with all kinds amazing structures and attractions, all tediously crafted with blocks, walls, windows, poles, etc. Some people even combine multiple maps to create an area that, when scaled out, is literally MILES long!
Like this creation...
Something like this would take hundreds of hours to do!
