- Eder Licinius Show Spoiler
- EDER LICINIUS:
Upon arrival in Eder Licinius, I'm slightly disoriented, probably due to the large mosaic which is more pixellated than the rest, or because of my
streched widescreen monitor. The effect is not compleately unwanted in this age, as it does give an air of mystery. The whole "there's more to this
place than meets the eye" feel, is amplified by the view I can get through the D'ni telescope, and even moreso by the loud scream that suddenly pierces
my ear. Even with a 4.1 speaker set, it's impossible to hear where that sound is coming from (nice echos on it by the way), making the scream even more
unsettling. While Licinius doesn't feel like a finished up place, the hut you can find on your way down does add to the mystery, beautifully amplified by
the maintainers report lying beside it (which by the way provides a reasonable explanation for the hut being closed off).
The true gem of this Age is not to be found in the Age itself, but moreso in Chloe's Hood office, which immediately has a "Myst/Uru Office" feel on it.
The cartographers maps, as well as the in-game maps doe a wonderful job connecting you to the mysteries of the cavern, while the microwave and computer
connect this place to the surface as well. From the bookshelf you can see that this is the study of a dedicated Writer or Art researcher. The note and
the Journal on Eder Licinius do a good job connecting it back to that Age.
One of my personal favourites in this small sub-age is the mock-up of National Explorer addressing the cavern, which addresses one of our favourite
in-universe questions: How on the face of the earth can it be that the cavern isn't public knowledge by now?
Some points of critique:- While the animal scream is doing a very good job of being unsettling, I feel it's a bit too loud on the speakers, especially when repeated.
- The link-in mosaic needs to be of a higher resolution (or needs detail texture) in order to blend in better with the surrounding level of detail
- Eder Licinius was pretty slow on my middle-end graphics card. Possibly it can benefit from a reduction of vertices/faces.
- In contrast to Tehr'Dovah, this age doesn't have background music, which I think can geatly enhance the feel of the place.
- The stairs and road to the hut have some collision issues that make walking harder. The stairs would benefit from a single walk-plane physical, instead of
steps - Around Chloes office, it's immediately clear that you used a sky texture/dome, or single-plane texture, which isn't really working here.
Not sure how it could be improved, maybe a look around the Baron City Office would help.
- Tehr'Dovah Show Spoiler
- TEHR'DOVAH:
One thing is clear as soon as you link in to Tehr'Dovah - this must be a magical place. The music which begins to play as soon as you're there,
amplifies that feeling, while the sound of birds, sea and insects give the place a feel of Life, that I've not seen paralleled in any fan Age so far.
For some reason, because of this magical feeling, you don't mind that the ground, the rocks and the textures appear a bit "cartoonish", it only adds to
the feeling that you've entered a magical world. The global lighting (it feels a bit overly lit - a good think in this case) works to amplify that feeling.
When you walk to explore the land, you notice beautifully modeled trees, whose only defect is their sudden transition to the ground - they seem to appear
out of the ground. However, the detailed shadows which they cast on the ground, counteract that effect, so that to me it ends up adding to the magical
feeling. The broken pillars hint to you that there were people here once.
Once you approach the built up area, you encounter a "river of silver mist", which runs down a gorge in the hills.
The buildings seem inspired by Chinese/Japanese influences. The door and walls, feel like they're made of rice-paper, and one treads very carefully in the
place they give access to. The buildings here look carefully crafted, and fragile, yet more durable than one would think. Among the rivers and bridges
there float several paper or light wood objects, which are perhaps candles that light up the place at night. This place is definitely inhabited now, by
someone who respects the cultural heritage of this place.
In this area you can also enjoy the beautiful sky of Tehr'Dovan to the fullest, for from the small platform overlooking the sea, you have a splendid view
of the sunlit skies and sea.
The gem of this age can be seen in this civilized area, one rock wall is perfectly polished up, and when one looks closely, you are again reminded that this
is a magical place, for the wall reflects what is seen before the buildings were built, and civilization was brought here.
Some points of critique:- There is no sense of actual presence here - one has no way to find out who inhabits these dwellings
- There is a lack of physical blockers, so that one can explore beyond the boundaries of the world - which greatly diminishes the magical feeling brought
by the "true" part of the world. Especially the sea is tricky - if you want to swim in it, you fall into the endless void below. - I realize that the "silver mist" is probably a bug - it feels like silver mist, because it seems to creep up the hills, and because it does not react to
the presence of the avatar. Nevertheless, I believe that you should enhance on the "silver mist" theme, instead of making it look more like water. - This age suffers quite a bit from misplaced vertices, I recommend vertex clean up.
- The trees will probably look better if you use some alpha vertex paint or texture blending to join them to the ground more carefully, however, be careful
to keep it in style with the rest of the age.
JUDGING:
This one is tough - I'm forced to choose between the immersion of Chloes Hood Office, and the magical air of Tehr'Dovah.
With only marginal difference, I'm going for:
Chloes Hood Office//Eder Licinius
The difference is mostly caused by these two reasons:
- Reasons Show Spoiler
- Chloe's hood office does a wonderful job tying in to the D'ni canon and cavern air, and has compelling story links
- I can't shake the feeling that my two favourites in Tehr'Dovah (the Silver Mist River, and the Back In Time Wall), get most of their magic from
accident, and when I count those out, the age lacks a bit in the continuity area.
