Paradis, Outlined

I think they should turn off the mini maps, too. Imagine a group of watch men running through the alleys of the city, hunting down a criminal who has infiltrated the city. Would be no fun if you can look at the green dots on the map, wouldn't it? ^^

As for the minimap

I tend to make that useless. a decent portion of the city will be covered by the shell of the ark. So all you would see is a big GREY thing for your map.

I would like to see combat not with modern tools. I would like to see bow/arrows, person to person fighting, somes kind of magic.

Well, ressources are scarce. I guess the poor people won't have the money for high-tech stuff and have to use primitive weapons then ^^.

Is there some kind of vehicle technology? Like hover cars and ships or carriages pulled by mutant horses?

I would prefer 'psychics,' including those with forcelike powers as they have been translated to sl, to magic..maybe some call it magic but with the genetics tech needed for such a project, extension of the human mind isn't out of the question. Purposeful 'psybernetics' activating latent abilites would probably be more prevelant in upper classes..with the same percentage of natural talents at the lower. This would lean toward more middle to upper class 'psychics.'

Personally Id prefer less modern weapons.. though the lightsabres as a 'modernized' gentlemans weapon is entirely feasible.

I dig this. Good job.

We have some designs being worked to give us a better idea of the way buildings and items unique to Paradis will be constructed. Any input and concept art is greatly appreciated.

Mutant Tentacle Horses *winks* rofl

Genetically engineers animals.. I.E. a llarge turtle like creature with a 'designer' shell built to carry from 1-10 people depending on size. Or the Gorean Tarns?

A lot of people who have taken interest or shown support have requested specifically to be reminded of Gor as little as possible, so direct ganks might be bad (though we're totally running off with mods of their fashions).

How about something that's more a cross between a silt strider from Morrowwind and those walker thingies from Half-Life 2?

Well the turtles are something thats not Gor, and giant birds are nothing new from Gor. they are a staple of fantasy games. LOTR anyone?

I don't see why giant birds wouldn't be considered mounts..I did in D&D even before I -heard- of Gor.

Was specifically addressing the Tarns. Typcially when people are upset with something, they attack anything similar to it as well.

Giant birds will be present, though . I'd think that something more unique should apply as a transportation piece.

Edit: How about some form of machina inside the city, something small and simple so noone gets mowed down, and something more massive outside?

I'm going to design "swoop-style" concepts to get around town in. That seems more logical, maybe with a flight feature. Also, less lag and fracturing.

Outside, something with a hollowed-out shell on its back, massive, carries up to 15. Long, plated legs that are simple and have a sharp point that strikes the ground. Armored head, particle-glowy eyes.

You know that sounds pretty cool

Maybe some autoken versions of animals that exist or existed priot - mechanimals if you will.

I can see mechanical versions of say for instance, chocobo like ridable birds.

THat would work! And it would keep people from flying around lagging everything (there has been discussion of a no-fly law that severely restricts flight in city limits).

How about Lizard-like creatures that have features that keep them from looking like dinosaurs, maybe with some sort of harnessing system/etc? (Incidentally, any form of animal harnessing system gives the D/sers new tools to party with, too).

Actually...do you remember the vehicles in an old nintendo game called Xexyz?

What is wrong with Tarns?

I am looking for a Tarn that has moving wings and scripted to defend me from those pesky males, both Gorean and non Gorean. Hint I have my paypal account ready and am willing to pay in American dollars for a good one!

Oh does Gamera show up in this sim?

I think the usefulness of vehicles will be limited, so they can be slow. Most of Paradis will be on smaller parcels, linked by teleporters at the end of "roads".

Actually, of all the vehicles I have theres one I want to use..and I hope it would be alright to portray myself with it in the rp

My sl wife isn't into rp so much so it will mostly be when shes at class, not a full time thing (this would also negate the worry about any licensure of dominance unelss she chooses to come join me on her weekends). But I can easily see a travelling 'psychic' explorer who rides around on his (groundbound) bird mount, meeting people and getting by with a smile.

I have found few places where my chocobo makes a good vehicle, but I see it fitting in perfectly with the genetic engineering and mutations present here.

I have a fliptitle where any subgame rp name would be used, so taking my personas name as seperate within Paradis would be no problem.

My poor chocobo needs a workout

That should be wonderfully fine, and I figured what you were getting at .

If nothing else, we can still refer to them as Chocobos and blame it on cultural reference.

Still though, there needs to be a steed of some sort unique to Paradis.

I threw a few prims together and made a small scale model of tower which should represent the heart and brain of Paradis. Let me show you the pics first.



The exterior:
I was thinking about a mixture of stone/marble and steel plates for the construction. The dark grey parts should be made out of stone, maybe huge stone blocks like the Maya temples. A high polished marble texture would be ok, too, i think.
The light grey areas will be covered with steel plates or aluminum with panorama windows in them.
The usage of stone reflects the hopes for better times like the "good old days" whereas the steel components show the futuristic/hi-tec/cyber-punk side of the city.

As you can see, there is a huge inviting entrance on ground level, leading to the public area of the tower. Further above, i planned an optional hangar bay where the politicians can park their vehicles or their flying chocobos ^^.
On the backside of the tower, there are four transparent tubes containing the high speed elevators. We can either use an elevator script or a teleport system there.

The interior:
My idea was to create some sort of welcome area on ground level where tourists can learn more about the society or where you can obtain your citizenship. Large windows and light colors should help to create a welcome atmosphere in there.
On top of that, we could place some regular office floors (for the administration), the guard's HQ, the control room remote contolling the city gates and of course the council meeting chamber. Maybe an observation deck on top of the building would be cool.

Other idea:
How about turning the telehubs into public transport stations. People teleporting into a sim can take a ride to the welcome area or the other telehubs in a taxi for a small fee (like 1 L per ride).

Anyway, what do you think about all this? Any other ideas, suggestions or designs?

I like your Paradis central building design a lot. Let's take that and incorporate a design I think should permeate the culture. I love its "Fortress" style and I think it, as a skyrise straight up from the Market district in the center, would be very impressive. Of course, it would be supermassive. Perhaps if you were to give us a comparison of your building versus a more familiar unit of measure?

As we expand on it, it may even become the Ark itself.

The design I wished to address is something that I first saw on a candle that I think Cilis created. It was a simple mix of a solid red candle with metal wrapped around it, making something of a twisty lantern. As if the candle were the wand of a caduceus, almost.

I'm thinking this is a symbol that should be incorporated, somehow, in Paradis's official flag. If we can make as many pillars and other long, rodlike shapes resemble this design, we're doing something unique to the culture. That's a good thing.

Can you diagram your vision for the inside of that building?

Edit: The public transportation idea crossed my mind, but even 1L will irritate too many people. If it's going to exist that would need to be free. However, a small fee may be involved in tying land to the zoning network, specifically businesses wanting to sell directly to Paradis citizens.

Not bad, but something feels off about it.. Looks almost like a rocket to me, with the pointy tip and flanged base, and such. ;p The concepts an agreeable one, tho.. *coughHL2Citadel*

I think reducing the total height will let it have more a pyramid look than a rocket look. I am targeting a height of a little bit more than 100 meters. It wouldn't look as good if the top of the building is chopped off because of the drawing distance.

The sides will be around 50x50 meters which should give us enough space and doesn't take too many prims to build. Of course we can make it even bigger, it all depends on the layout of the city (how many other buildings will be there and how many prims will be used for them).

I haven't thought much about the inner design yet, but we should use the colors of the city flag, especially in the council room.
The welcome area below should help newbies to learn about the society. So what about computer terminals where the people can search in a database to learn about the history of paradis. How about recording a female voice telling the historic facts and rules of the city (like in those sci-fi movies)?

@Shyotl: Feel free to add some design ideas. I haven't played HL2 so I don't know what that tower looks like.

To me, I think that the 'signifigant' structures for the city should somehow be involved with the (potentially past)operation of the 'arc' in some way.

Is the arc still completley functional, or has it since fallen into disarray? Has the knowledge of how it functions been lost, or is it still known to a select few of the aristocrats? How technologically adept are the common citizens? Is the knowledge used as a method for the upper-class to retain their power? Is the technology of the arc seen as a marvel of some long forgotten past? Technology could be an effective way to differentiate between classes and the like, too. Perhaps the upper class could have more basic knowledge about the technology, and have easier access to it, thus extra incentive to form into 'groups' that are closer(distance wise) to signifigant parts of the arc? If part of the ark has since broken down, would it make sense for 'slums' to develop around the old non-functional components of the arc(think looting and such from the old broken down components of the arc, and builds in such areas reflecting such disorderly scavenging). 'Paradis' has so many components that I feel everyone has their own different perception of what this thing intends to be. I'm just throwin my ideas out there.

Who gets what? Why do they get it? At what level is technology 'capped'? How does this infection deal work? Is any concept of magic and such things going to exist? How much fantasy is going to be tossed into this things? It needs to be settled before everyones expectations of this rather vague society are shattered. It needs to be defined down to the smallest detail. That's why Gor works.

I feel these basic concepts need to be settled before any real signifigant building can begin. It would help to develop a general theme and a general 'view' of the enviroment and society.

I actually have an av now that makes for a good 'mechanimal' exploration craft so youll get to see that.

edit: Heck, might just rp as a mechanimal, if thats alright? This av rocks.

We havent' really started the thread explaining some of this, but you're right, it needs to be addressed. We're going for a 2050-2100ad style tech, with a bit of neuromancy, etc. The who gets what and why do they get it is being worked out as I work on the various branches of the society tree. No "new" technology will be planned from the get-go, though as Paradis establishes it may be RP'd in. The Paradise Ark has been slowly disassembled and used to construct homes, and the former "hull" of the Ark makes up at least the inner, if not outer, city wall of Paradis. The "roof" of the ark is being torn down to make homes, etc. The midsection was mosty cryo facilities that have also been scrapped, but I agree that administrative buildings and central areas should relate to the former functions of the Ark (including the power plant, which still functions).

Technology is reverse-engineered as disk decay resulted in most of history being lost. Indeed, much of the RP for those who wish to involve themselves in this particular aspect will be finding bits of historical artefacts to piece together why everyone piled into the Ark in the first place, and why it they were in it for so long.

Nobility and upper class homes will be nearly entirely made of parts from the Ark, and have the greatest technological benefit as such. Middle class homes will involve natural resources a bit more, and the lower classes and those outside the city will live in shanties made of whatever they can find.

We're attempting to find a common design aspect for Paradis, such as a specific kind of column, to act as an archetectural signature. I'll be working more on the societal branches and methods of transportation today. Cilis is working on the lower class homes and Furry Sector constructions (as a heads-up to you furries out there, we're going to be giving you your own personal Mardis Gras as part of the write-up) as well as guard armor, Rem is working on upper class and civic construction with some attention to clothing, I'm working on the Citizen gems (infection, etc will all be handled through these) and culture.

We can always use more help. I've got other parties putting some things together as well.

Edit: Wombat, try the same proportions, but make it over 600m tall.