Arcis Redevelopment Blog

[Tiko]

Now that the new version of Dream Forge has been completed, I am now able to continue working on Arcis. In doing so, I thought that I needed more criticism as I'm actually doing the work, and not every once in a while. And what better way to get criticism, than to do a sort of "development blog," wherein I post updates to the city daily (or "wheneverigetaroundtoworkingonit-ly) and gather feedback from the community.

In looking at Arcis as it currently stands, I found myself somewhat disappointed. This is the great sea capital? The center of trade, the hive of merchants? Why are the docks shoved off to the side, away from the heart of the city? Why am I trying to emulate Orecrest with several different tiers? Sure, Arcis is on a volcanic island, but volcano's rarely rise up in sharp terraces like cliffs.



So, I decided that the city needed to be scrapped, and started fresh (again). But this time, I get to include everyone in the process, and hopefully inspire some of you to get involved in making your own cities.

[Tiko]

Planned Features:

Lighthouse and Seawall
Sewers
Opera/Theater
Slums
Capitol Building/Orecrestian Embassy
Market
Naval Academy

[Tiko]

The Docks and the Seawall

The Merinor Lighthouse

The Dusty Lantern

[sctjkc01]

Here's a thought: try putting your city center as close to the ocean as is logically possible.

[Ponystar17]

*Hinthint?*

Huge temple to [Sea God] and smaller one to [Commerce God]?
A really beautiful harbour w/ 10 foot islands with statues?
Multiple lighthouses
The main building/palace might join onto the sea, having its own private beach
I think it might help having the market near the dock - it's part of the city centre and a big one.

[Tiko]

Update 1

The Docks
My first major task with the city was to redesign the docks. I wanted them to be the most important part of the city, so what better way than to have them take up the entire shoreline?

So, we go from this:


To this:



Both of these maps are the same size, I just made the second image larger to show the detail better. I'm much happier with this layout than the old, and I feel that it fits the city much more naturally. If you see anything that you don't like, feel free to let me know.

The Dusty Lantern
Seeing as I was having trouble with coming up with a new inn layout, I decided to reuse an old one that I was pretty happy with.

First floor:


Second floor:

[Ponystar17]

That's very nice, Tiko, but is the water really going to be red? *Covers mouth*

[The_Imperial]

Well, the water isn't red. Red is the primary color for the color generator, then green, then blue. So when the game actually starts up and runs, the code changes that red color to what ever the Dev has picked.

[Ponystar17]

Oh. When I saw there was a reply, I thought it would be Tiko saying, "You cheeky"... I was kind of anticipating the color change, and the removal of the crosses, entrances, and exits.

[The_Imperial]

Heh, well those pictures were taken in dream maker, so that's all mapping stuff that doesn't show up when the map actually hosted. The red X's block movement to that area, the green X's block the visual of the level below, The Exit is well... The exit out of the building and the arrow going up is the spot in which another exit leads.

[Ponystar17]

O_O

I'll leave that to you... *Is still expecting a telling-off*

[The_Imperial]

I've seen Acris actually running, it looks rather good . The water is just the classic blue FYI.

[Ponystar17]

Pretty. I bet there are bugs though... If you use so-and-so exit...

[The_Imperial]

Nah, those are usually the things people screw up the least. Like Exit (AS1) goes to entrance (AS1) and so on.

[Tiko]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm still working on this.

Expect an update soon.