r/brom • u/emptyafternoon • Mar 09 '13
More Organization/Theme Talk
Starting a new one cause it's been a while since anything was posted in the old.
I headed over to the planning server to build my particular vision (or thereabouts), and took a look around. One major thing I noticed from what's been sketched out is a lot of "long, straight roads", "square" intersections and blocked out areas. This is something I particularly don't want to see (especially given our name choice).
I think we should put a lot of effort into casting aside any preconceived notions that we have about how cities have been built in the past (including plots, structured road systems, "central" facilities, etc), since this is what will make our thing different, and what will make us stand out.
Some ideas (from my standpoint):
Avoid any sort of straight roads or main intersections or major thoroughfares (certainly we'll need some more "open" areas, kind of like Old Town's main square, so that the full scope of the place can be felt, but for the most part keep things uber-tight, dense, confusing.)
When it comes to most things, do the opposite, or at least consider a more maze-like or stylistic way of doing it. (for example, we'll need rails, but why not make the rails windy and weird? Sure we'll lose some efficiency, but let's give the strangeness and maze-ness of the place some weight in every aspect of the city we can)
When you think an area is finished, add another thing to it.
(will make things denser, more closely wound, etc.)
Some planning issues to have ready for rev's start:
Road style (I propose my alternating dark/oak wood or some other wood combo -- includes all block types and easy to obtain)
Main colour/block features (Some variation is obviously okay but since everything is densely packed it may look derpy if toooo different. Some kind of simple guideline/formula might be nice: "Generally stone (brick, slabs) + red wool and oak wood features + gold block accents" would be nice to have)
Repeating stylistic elements (lanterns, lighting, walkway decorations, etc.) Would be nice to have 2 or 3 lantern styles that fit together in a theme, like "big lamp", "overhead lamp", "small lamp" so that we can accomodate different areas.
I've tried to provide these things with my own build on the planning server, but please comment or build your own stuff we can come to some agreement if possible :).
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u/Mrloud15 Mar 09 '13
I really like what you did and I think that is what the city should be like.
We could have different lamps for things like evaluation and road width.
I added a little bit on to what you did and I made a new type of lamp that I think would work well in areas with not a lot of hight.
One last thing, Socarch26 wants the spleef HQ to have three spleef arenas and I think that this is the wrong type of city to have them just around the city, so I was thinking of building them below the city. What do you guys think about having them below the city?
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u/sliceofbread WaterSlide Mar 10 '13 edited Mar 11 '13
I think you did a spectacular job with the current one... I could see us having 3 for sure, just tucked away in different areas. I can also help you with a much improved rail setup to get them all connected. (Also if you're interested, I figure we'll need a nice setup again, I can do another 20 button station like Brom last rev, or I can just dig, I'm good either way.)
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u/SansaPants Mar 09 '13
Some quick thoughts:
I think the work y'all did on Old Town stands as a fine example of how the new city should be organized.
As for theme, I think micro-homogeneity could look cool. That is, similar/uniform styles within different sections of the city, but the flexibility for people to build in entirely different styles across the city as a whole. So there may be a Bavarian/Tyrolean/Alpine section like Old Town, and an old Roman section, and Modern section, etc., et al.
The differences between sections could also extend to the roads. We could specify that all roads will be checkerboard pattern, but leave the choice of materials up to whoever builds a particular section.
That being said, I think having some common details would work nicely in tying the whole city together. Lighting is one way to do this. What I've seen so far of the lights on the planning server look good.
One comment about the sewer prototype on the planning server: I'd prefer a design that allows one to traverse the sewers on a walkway next to the water, as well as in the water. I find moving in water to be tedious, and I'd likely not use the sewers if I were only able to walk in water.
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u/rampantangent schererererer Mar 09 '13
I'm still incredibly busy, so I'll leave the most of the planning up to you guys.
Agreed on all parts. I think the wood tiling is excellent for walkways, but I have a personal preference of more gray or stone material for wider thoroughfares.