Author Topic: Ancient public buildings  (Read 3023 times)

khoridor

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Ancient public buildings
« on: October 31, 2008, 07:38:45 am »
This is not a fully formulated wish, rather a suggestion for future developments, and a basis for potential wishes. (I hesitated to put it in General Discussions).

The setting uses a variety of buildings to make Yliakum a rich environment. We have great temples, forges, a fortress, taverns, various shops, a library, soon a university and a hospital, etc. Many of them have a very modern flavor (tavern, library...), while some very common medieval or antique elements are not there (yet?). I'll try to avoid the ones probably in the making (jail, brewery...), as well as shops, and mention things not seen on the 1st level (and maybe already in the making).

So here are a few:
Mill: A very important building in an agricultural world. And windmills look real cool.
Outdoors shrine: That's where you pray when you are on the road.
Hall: That's often just a big empty building where communities gather. Think of a plaza with a roof, basically. In some cultures, that's also where people sleep, together.
Baths: A favorite of many ancient civilisations, and still of modern ones; very high tech for the time. Another place of high social importance. References: anything sophisticate from the Roman bath houses to the Finnish sauna or the South East Asian massage houses. Thermal spots can fit in the same category.
Cistern: The water supply buildings are much more common than the sewers systems. A cistern can be a pretty big outside building, or an even bigger underground room (Istanbul, for example). Complex cistern networks are fed by aqueducts (through great distances).
Granary: Another very important building, where a town stores its food supplies. Or is there no risk of starvation in Yliakum?
Balance: Towns used to have one where markets took place, as a reference for buyers and sellers. Obviously, we don't need one since we know exactly how much we carry, but it still has its place for embellishment.
Bridge: The most important thing about a bridge is that you pay to cross it  ;D. There will be water (and swimming) some day, so there will be bridges.
Construction site: Always overlooked in games. Large and complex buildings take a long time to complete. A construction site can last for several generations (or several centuries in RL history). So there's nothing wrong with half a building that never seems to advance in IG time. That's actually where, I guess, the build skill would be put to use.
Clock tower: We all know what time it is in game, so that could be the reason why. I don't know if Crystal shadows can be used, but mechanical clocks and clepsydras don't sound to high tech compared to other stuff in game.
Field: Ancient cities have fields inside their walls, both for farming and cattle.
Tunnel: Fortified places have more or less secret tunnels, when the underneath rock doesn't make it impossible. They serve mostly in times of siege, to bring in supplies, for messengers and scouts, and sometimes as an escape route. (not a public feature, I agree, but some very few characters can be granted access to it, if not already the case)

Then I try to think of things more specific to Yliakum, a place where people are supposed to come back from the dead. This is so central that I believe it should impact the life, and the culture, in more obvious ways. There are other sources of course, like the geography, that brought us the Winch.
Cemetery: body are disposed of, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place dedicated for mourning and celebrating ancestors. Specially in a very religious setting. It's not a room inside a temple, since temples are dedicated to 1 god. It would be more public, and more monumental. It could be a field of raised stones, or a wall, or a staircase, or a sort of museum (musoleum, eh eh), or something else.
Asylum: heal spell is of very easy access, which means professional healers have very little to do on that side. But what about mental troubles? With all these people passing through the DR, some of them are bound to lose some sanity, so how does society deal with them? I'm not talking about affecting the players through mechanics, but having a building with a social purpose, and incidentally also a place for RP. I would make it old fashion, of course, noisy, dirty, smelly, closer to a jail than to a health institution. And PCs would be interned on their own request (they can always commit suicide to escape ICly).

Ok, I don't want to be too long, so I stop here. What I would like is for you to come with your suggestions, and build a pool from which the dev team can pick up what they want. Don't develop too much on each idea, so that it stays more like a list; a specific building can be developed in its own thread if it has a rich potential.

zanzibar

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2008, 08:06:14 am »
I think I once made a wish for a townhall where adventurers could gather and meet to form hunting parties etc.

Fields are something I crave in PlaneShift a well.  We need more truly open spaces.  Straight roads, permeable forests, and open fields of grass and wildflowers.  I think the theory is that if an area is too flat, it will be too easy to navigate it, but I don't think everything in the game needs to be difficult.

Hydlaa does have an underground sytem of tunnels.  One system forms a dungeon, the other connects various guard towers.

Re: Asylums, the game is supposed to be rated G or PG13 or something tame like that, so topics like suicide and depression are a little outside of that.
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Mathy Stockington

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2008, 01:01:56 pm »
I really like all your suggestions. Though I wonder knowing the settings are medieval this is Yliakum and not an ancient Roman Empire therefore would all these ideas fit into the settings as they are now? I would like to see if a dev thinks any of this would work because I see some wonderful role plays happening in some of the places you have mentioned. Your post was well thought out and I commend you for the time and effort it took to write it.
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Entevir

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2008, 06:21:29 pm »
I would argue with the cemeteries as they probably would not be useful. Last i remember people who come out of the DR appear anywhere. And if they do appear in a certain spot depending on what portal they used or what race they are it would be far from a cemetery something. Unless Dakkru followers made it to resemble DR.
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Farren Kutter

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2008, 06:33:43 pm »
I would argue with the cemeteries as they probably would not be useful. Last i remember people who come out of the DR appear anywhere. And if they do appear in a certain spot depending on what portal they used or what race they are it would be far from a cemetery something. Unless Dakkru followers made it to resemble DR.

 Ummm... He said for those that die permanently... >.>

I think many of these would be good ideas... But I'm not sure what use those tunnels would be.... There's no war in Yliakum...




zanzibar

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2008, 08:52:01 pm »
Yliakum is in a constant state of war because of invasions from the stone labyrinths.
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Candy

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2008, 08:54:09 pm »
Re: Asylums, the game is supposed to be rated G or PG13 or something tame like that, so topics like suicide and depression are a little outside of that.

An asylum could be done in a PG-13 manner (it's fairly subjective, but suicide could be a PG-13 topic as long as the gorier details are left out)...but a public bathhouse might not be such a good idea. XD
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Farren Kutter

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #7 on: October 31, 2008, 09:02:37 pm »
Zanzi, that is not war. War is two nations fighting each other. Fighting off a horde of Ulbernauts is just an annoyance. A large one.




zanzibar

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2008, 12:08:51 am »
Re: Asylums, the game is supposed to be rated G or PG13 or something tame like that, so topics like suicide and depression are a little outside of that.

An asylum could be done in a PG-13 manner (it's fairly subjective, but suicide could be a PG-13 topic as long as the gorier details are left out)...but a public bathhouse might not be such a good idea. XD
I don't see a way to make suicide PG-13.  It's not the gore.  It's the idea of someone being so desperate and hopeless that they'll kill themselves.  It would be irresponsible to add it to the game unless new PlaneShift users are given a warning saying that it contains adult themes.


Zanzi, that is not war. War is two nations fighting each other. Fighting off a horde of Ulbernauts is just an annoyance. A large one.
Semantics.
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khoridor

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2008, 05:42:32 am »
I expected that people would explain why they individually would agree or disagree on the relevance of this of that building. The thing is, I'd rather see other entries added to the list, or entries completed with possible uses, descriptions or potential developments.
The pool starts with obvious elements, based on the real world. Nothing original as it serves as a reminder and a basis for development. People coming from different cultures may point out buildings (and activities) unknown to others. And creative ones can come up, as a response to Yliakum specifics.
I won't argue on each entry. They are there for a reason. If you find a detail inappropriate, think of a way to make it worth.
And I will edit the list once in a while if it ever grows up; that way, the rest of the thread can be diluted at will.

Raa

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #10 on: November 02, 2008, 05:32:56 am »
Suicide and depression? Definitely PG. But the everyday hunting and homicide is, like, PG 13 and up. Don't get ironic. Besides, not all people in asylums suffer from depression/thoughts of suicide. I had a relative who thought everyone hated him because of his duck shaped head. Crazy, but not suicidal or depressed. Usually insane people don't give a shit whether they live or die.

zanzibar

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #11 on: November 02, 2008, 08:31:56 am »
Suicide and depression? Definitely PG. But the everyday hunting and homicide is, like, PG 13 and up. Don't get ironic. Besides, not all people in asylums suffer from depression/thoughts of suicide. I had a relative who thought everyone hated him because of his duck shaped head. Crazy, but not suicidal or depressed. Usually insane people don't give a shit whether they live or die.
That's all true, although killing in PlaneShift is largely Disneyfied.  But if we added asylums in game, you just know that some people would take it too far.
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Raa

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #12 on: November 02, 2008, 09:20:46 am »
Apparently Planeshift is supposed to be a "dark" game, so, in my opinion, an asylum (and cemetery) would be a nice touch. People already take it too far, and I just tend to ignore them.

khoridor

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Re: Ancient public buildings
« Reply #13 on: November 14, 2008, 10:33:57 am »
A few more:
- Wash house: A public basin, usually with a roof, where people wash their clothes. It's a very social spot, and one of the best for gossips.
- Watering place: Because cattle come to town, they need special spots for drinking; they can't use fountains, which are supposed to provide clean water. Spots where mounts can be attached are also equipped with watering places. They can be of either wood or stone, and large ones are often covered by a roof.
- Pillory: A place for public humiliation, part of the justice system (no torture or killing here). Some of them were permanent, rotating towers. The public exposition is short (a few hours), and I'm sure some PCs would love to be punished there once in a while. Similar punishments include stocks, cages, barrels, drunkards collars, etc.
- Lighthouse, beacon: Not for ships, but for flying mounts. Specially useful around the inner edges of the rings. With some sophistication, a color code can even be used for intercity basic communication (as was the case with church bells in the real world for example).