Bunker Project Log

02 Oct

Bunker “Style”

In the comments for IGN: Ultimate Setup XLVII, I’ve been harshly criticized about the general blandness of the Bunker. I quote:

“This is a bit much for me…….maybe he should get a life? Does look cool but really designed poorly just because all the walls are white and really plan I mean pimp out the room with some posters or paint the walls, but who ever uses a whole house for gaming is either insane or needs to lose their virginity…..…” – LadiesLoveCooLJ

“Screw this. Sure he’s got a lot of cool stuff, and wastes way too much money on it, but the execution of the setup is completely dry and style-less. It is disgusting.” – raineisdead

“Alot of stuff, but it all looks too messy to me. If it was me I’d spend some more on getting nice furniture and get the rest of my house/gameroom looking stylish. Seems to me like he’s just pumping as many electronic devices into a house as he can.”– Panoz-Esperante-GTR1

I don’t know if I would go so far as “disgusting”, but I definitely agree with “completely dry and style-less”, mainly because it is by design.

First, the DDR room is painted “Spa White” it was designed that way to fulfill two purposes. One, the wife (Mrs. G) loves the EyeToy, and the only way that damn thing will work well is with a completely white room lit by a 680K Candlepower lighthouse lens. I know this because the room is completely white and is lit with 4 75 Watt bulbs, and it still seems dark. The second reason is, Mrs. G is a Yoga freak, and I wanted the room to completely transform into a calm, serene place where she can navel-gaze without a bunch of garish speakers or other electronic junk distracting from her Nirvana quest.

At one point I wanted to get a bunch of wall decals like this? but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had made that space for Mrs. G, and I didn’t want to spoil it.

As for the theater room, yes, it is grey. Really grey. In fact, I often look at it and go… “wow this is really grey.” (Actually, the paint is called “Silver Screen”.) However, it is very rare for anyone other than me to see the Bunker with the lights on. We had an “incident” at the last Bunker party, where we had to clean up a lot of Pottse’s blood, and a bunch of people said “I’ve never seen this place with the lights on.” What you can’t see from the pictures is that this place is pitch black except for 9 LCD monitors, and the Projector. On top of that, it is loud as hell. Either there is J-Pop bumping out from DDR, or “John the Fisherman” from GHII, or someone warbling out the words to “Take on Me” on Singstar. Any other “style” would cause your eyeballs to bleed a little harder. Seriously, when you leave the Bunker at 4am you are full-on sensory-overloaded.

As for non-gaming, theater use, I am always amazed when I see a theater with posters in the viewing area. I hate distractions when I am watching movies. (Hence the no-pausing rule, and the monitor in the bathroom.) Posters are glossy unless you matte them, and they will reflect the screen like a supernova. My philosophy is, you are there to watch the movie, not the walls.

That is not to say that I don’t admire the setups that have gone all-out for style, quite the contrary. Those are the ones that inspired me to build the Bunker in the first place. For those of you looking for truly gorgeous setups and gear, make sure you hit www.avsforum.com. You will be amazed. The Bunker is child’s play compared to what the guys have there.

As for being messy… the Analog Room definitely is. There are board games stacked everywhere, and half-finished games all over the place. I would like to deal with this, but that would require some major cleanup in the Bunker Storage room, and that makes me afraid.

What no one notices, mainly because I think I failed to pull it off, is that the bathroom was supposed to convey the look of both Yavin IV from “A New Hope” and Boba Fett’s color scheme all at the same time. The floor tiles are stone and staggered to give it a feel like the temple at the end with the victory ceremony. This was supposed to blend in with the general jungle green of Yavin… and then to the greyish greens from Boba Fetts armor. At one point I considered etching one of the Mandalorian symbols into the glass of the shower door, or just hiding it somewhere painted red near the toilet roll or something. If there is one place I would consider putting up posters, it will be in there, and probably Star Wars related.

So, the Bunker was designed to look the way it does for a reason. Unfortunately, those reasons usually are only tangentially related to aesthetics.???

5 Responses to “Bunker “Style””

  1. 1
    DrFaulken Says:

    That’s the problem with posting anything to the Internet — someone is going to always take a dump on it. I guess I’m more of a function over form kind of guy myself. While it’s interesting to read why the rooms are the way they are, it sucks that you got enough negative feedback to consider even writing this post.

    I think the Bunker is awesome, carry on.

  2. 2
    Sorrel Says:

    Yeah, that guy was just a troll. The bunker has a very clean aesthetic right now, definitely not something that should be ruined by random posters.

  3. 3
    Gangrene Says:

    I think they all have valid points. It is “industrial” to say the least. I just don’t want anyone to think that it isn’t the way that I want it.

    Well… there are some things the way I don’t want them, but… not the paint! 😀

  4. 4
    miah Says:

    you are a god among men.

    and rest assured all the flamers are just people who don’t know how to respond to their jealousy.

    your bunker is the frickin sweet. you should consider making a mame cabinet for it.

  5. 5
    Gangrene Says:

    Hey miah… your comment was easy to approve! 😉

    There is Mame at the Bunker. It is one of my projects that I am not doing, because I am lame: http://www.bunkerguts.com/blog/?cat=5

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