Your wife rocks, Sniz! Do it!

(Of course, I'm in trouble if my wife ever sees this thread, because then I'll have to build one, too...)

The wife want to use miniatures (yay!) for the game pieces, something like these:

Ok, here's how I'd tackle it. Apologies for assaulting this thread with a ton of images.

One of the biggest problems I forsee with reproducing the Clue board game as Shellendrak Manor is that you're either going to have a beast of a time torturing your building into the proper shape, or you're going to have to compromise the actual board layout. Clue has a very distorted design in some places, and could get really tricky.

Your other challenge, of course, is going to be props to make each room look like itself. Some will be easier, some harder.


With that in mind....

In designing the layout, I made a few command decisions:

1) Rather than try to make all the demented little indentations along the outside of the house, I opted to instead plug the inaccessable spaces with props. They're still not "movable" spaces, but they become a whole lot easier to build.

2) Most of the props will go into the rooms, who don't have "spaces" defined. Where possible, I also went gridless inside the rooms for this same reason.

3) To introduce variety (and make the rooms stand out), I haven't stuck strictly with Shellendrak. I've used a distinctly non-Shellendrak floor for the gameboard/outer walk to make it further stand out and separate itself.

4) In 3 places (lounge, study, conservatory) there is a door right in the corner. Shellendrak Manor doesn't like this one bit. In order to make it work, when one puts these doors in place, it will prove necessary to cut a slit right along the doorframe to accommodate the corner on one side of the door (lounge, study), or both sides (conservatory).



5) I *STRONGLY* recommend doing the 1" squares. The outer walls of Clue Manor are a 24" square with 1" grids, but a 36" square with 1.5" grids.

6) The Body Mansion is distinctly lacking in an actual entrance/exit. Lacking a better idea, I chose to put it into the Hall, as it seemed to make the most sense. Clue purists might want to consider keeping with the original game design and leaving the outer door off entirely!

7) The purists will be offended by some of my build shortcuts. Rest confident in knowing that it is still absolutley mechanically identical to the Clue you know and love, but some of the rooms are reshaped to make them less INSANE for a builder to put together.

8) No, I have not (nor do I intend to) built it. This is purely a "how I would do it" analysis.

To begin...

If you've studied a Clue board closely, you'll find that my 24" x 24" measure is technically off. Two little squares at the "bottom" of the board, the starting places next to the ballroom, would actually make it 25". I've altered the layout in this, and only this, spot to avoid this specific problem.

So the initial build isn't too hard. Start with a 24" square with as much "outer grounds" as you feel like including...none is truly necessary.

The outer walls on three sides are simply 24" long walls...can be done as either four 6" walls, or one 6" and two 9"s.

The "entrance" side is a little trickier, needing two 9" walls and an "entrance" wall, which can either be done as the regular 1" entrance wall left flat, or the 1" entrance wall folded out, with the two extra 1" bits from the side extentions page used to make up the remainder of the 6" width.

For the interior, I'm choosing to use Castles & Keeps for the actual "gameboard squares". They would need to be layed out about like this:



The "partial" squares should have C&K tiles on them, but aren't actual game spaces...they're the weird notches along the outer wall of the original gameboard, and will be covered up in statuary, suits of armor, etc.

I like the "neutral" grey walls, personally, so I'm recommending using grey walls for the gameboard space, and the Hall (of necessity due to the entrance). The other rooms will be done in the other wall styles.

So you'll need to put grey walls up against the outside walls in the following locations:



Also note that as you build each room, the walls that aren't glued to the exterior will also need to be the matching grey.

Take care as you're placing these grey walls to try to match up the exterior windows properly.

From here, it's just a matter of adding rooms, one at a time.

The Hall, as mentioned before, also uses the grey walls (to match the entrance, if you use it) so it is greywall inside and out. The floor should probably match the floor tiles of the entrance itself, which (thanks to Return to SM) is available in a 6x9 format.

Recommended Props: Paintings, suits of armor, statuary.



For the remaining four, I'm using two each of the blue and yellow (RTSM), green and pink walls. For gameplay convenience, the pink and yellow walls are being used corner-to-corner, and match up with the "secret passage" rules.

The Kitchen is the easiest...a simple 6x6 room. I'd piece together four of the dark wood floor tiles from the 3x3 page, go with a regular wood floor, or even (as shown here) steal the wood floor from InteriorWorks: Pubs & Inns. The walls in the kitchen are yellow. Again, I'm not using gridded tiles for the rooms in keeping with the original game, but you're welcome to change that if you want to reuse this for other games as well.

Recommended Props: Fairly obvious...all the various kitchen props from SM.



The Study is probably best in just the regular gridless wood floor. You could use a single 6x6 page, but I would recommend instead using the 3x6 floors page, since you'll use the other wood floors later on. Cut, paste, and shuffle to fit the 7x4 profile. The study also has yellow walls.

Recommended Props: Desk, Grandfather Clock, small bookcases, globe, fancy leather chair, trophies (mostly all on one page of SM)



The Lounge is our last good chance at using a "pretty" floor. At 7x6, it's a bit awkward, but not horribly so. Use the beautiful sandstone 6x6 floor from RTSM, and a 1" strip of the 3x6 version for the far wall (cover it up with couches to hide the awkward seam). The pink walls grace the Lounge.

Recommended Props: Curtains, Paintings, Fireplace, overstuffed couches and end tables.



As with its secret passage match, pink walls grace the Conservatory as well, and to match tile to tile, we'll also be using the 6x6 tile floor from SM itself.

Recommended Props: Several chairs. Alas, WorldWorks does not yet have a piano, so you may have to seek elsewhere to finish the decor here.



The Billiard Room uses the green wall style, and yet another tile floor...this time piecing together two of the blue and yellow tile styles.

Recommended Props: Again, alas, we lack the proper piece here (a pool table). Improvise as best you can.



The largest (and one of the most awkwardly shaped) rooms in the manor is the Dining Room. Thanks to Return to Shellendrak Manor, we have one last form of tile we can use, and one page will (just) cover the whole of the room. The walls are once again green.

Recommended Props: Banquet table, numerous chairs.



The Ballroom is also a bit odd-shaped (and slightly altered from the board game due to the outer layout issues as mentioned previously). Blue walls, and the lighter, yellowish wood floor grace this room. The wood floor will have to be pieced together from three 3x6 floors, since it doesn't come in 6x6.

Recommended Props: A few chairs, paintings for the walls, another piano if you can find a source for one for the Conservatory.



The Library is our last awkwardly-shaped room. Also using RTSM blue walls, it uses the last floor we haven't used yet...the dark wood floor (which you have leftovers of from doing the ballroom and study).

Recommended Props: The Library will fit both of the BIG bookcases from RTSM. A couple chairs and you're done.



All that leaves is the central non-room room. Easiest solution is to use the same stone floors as with the gameboard, the as-yet unused stucko walls, call it a storeroom with a locked door, and put a few crates in it.

If you're inclined to be more EEEEVIL, you can instead use the bloody wood floor and the mad science equipment.

Or you can throw caution completely to the wind, add several doors, put a staircase in, introduce Dr. Gray and the Lady Sable to your cast of characters, and build on an entire second floor! But that, I'm not gonna help you with.



You'll need 10 statues, suits of armor, or other square-blocking impediments to place on the 10 different non-squares about the perimiter of the gameboard.



And you'll need to add the doors...with the modifications mentioned at the start of the document. Match colors to fit where possible, and use a double door for the hall. You'll need a total of 14 doors and one double door (plus whatever you use for the "middle" room).



And that's about it. Have fun! Take lots of pictures if you ever do build it, as I'd LOVE to see it.

Did you put any thought in to this, Bob?

WOW! Thanks for the work up, that looks awesome... Now I'll have to talk my wife into getting the other sets!

Oh yes...one other idea.

Scan the cards, do some photoshoppery, and hang a portrait of each of the six players on the wall next to their starting locations in the mansion.

Actually, that center room looks like a good place for a dice tower.

One caution.

With 3" high walls, and 1" wide passages in a few places (below the ballroom, between billiards and library), it's going to be tricky moving minis around. Using a short ruler to scoot the minis around or such might prove helpful.


And yes...the dice tower idea is quite cool as another potential use for that center room.

This is very cool. I had been thinking about how to do a board more like a normal house. But this is much more straight forward.

Bob, are those all the sets in your post?

Wow. This looks very very cool. For reference, here are some pics and room names for both Clue and the master detective version (which offers some real imaginative possibilities as well as a front door... Mr Boddy still didn't get bathrooms):


Carriage house, conservatory, trophy room, kitchen, studio, cloak room, dining room, billiard room, library, drawing room, courtyard, gazebo, fountain.

Master detective board:

Regular clue board:

Edit: note that all players in the master version fan out from the cloack-room rather than have starting positions.

would be another good project for this - for those who have not played KDL it is the game 'before' Clue - where you want just five minutes alone with the good Doctor, with a weapon of your choice, and no witnesses....

A very fun game. (Many Cheapass games are - among the best are Give Me the Brain (zombies working in a fast food restaurant, with only one brain to share between them), Lord of the Fries (the same zombies - ingredients are running out and you have orders to fill... badly), and one of my favorite games, cheap or otherwise - Deadwood (actors working for a cheap movie studio, just trying to make a buck).

The Auld Grump

This is pretty cool -- I would suggest turning the Billiard room into a Game room and using the Arcade game from Mars Station as a prop

Geoff

Also, this is really inspring me (once I finish my cathedral!) to do my board for Hour of Glory, the WW2 commando game.



Geoff

Let's see...so much to reply to:


Snizitch, you're still missing one. I pulled the floor of the kitchen from InteriorWorks: Pubs and Inns.

However, you don't *have* to have either of the InteriorWorks sets...they're each used just to provide one type of flooring (stone for the gameboard, wood for the kitchen). You could just as easily use regular SM wood for the floors of kitchen and dining room, and the RTSM tiles from the dining room for the gameboard.


In point of fact, you don't *have* to have anything more than SM...but then you have even less floors and walls to work with, and thus even more rooms with the same floor and wall designs.

If you didn't have InteriorWorks, but you did have, say, Mayhem PD, you could use Mayhem PD carpets or concrete for the gameboards. Or any of the other different sets.




I don't know the Master Detective version well enough to be able to reproduce the extra rooms and rules, alas. If I could get a better picture of the gameboard (not covered up in cards and such), and someone to tell me where the secret passages (if any) go, I could take a crack at this treatment again.

It's certainly doable.




Rabidfox, I actually haven't paid the thread much attention until the morning I saw it, got a crazy idea, and pounded out those plans. Probably two hours from concept to post...maybe three.

And as mentioned above, the additional sets aren't required..they just allow you to produce results with more variety.

Myself, I'm not 100% sold on the dice tower idea in the first place...I lean more towards the storeroom or "mad scientist lab" concept...but your mileage may vary.



Jedi_Shepp, that depends on which version of Clue you're scanning images from. My copy has "photograph" images on the cards. The game has gone through MANY different evolutions and printings.

Still, ripping images from the movie is not only doable, it would have a great "inside joke" status for those who are ALSO fans of the movie.

Okay, I updated the list of links.

As far as them being needed or not, I would still like all of those sets, so it will be an even better reason to pick them up.

Here are some largish pictures of both master detective and museum caper (the latter is already sort of 3-d in plastic, but I thought you might find it interesting).