New Guest Race: The Luminescent

[DeletedUser20709]

Ultimately this is like asking people to describe what their favorite ice cream would taste like, if they could make anything they wanted. All ideas wont be good ideas, some may seem likable but ineffective or just simply don't fit. Keep your mind open and keep moving forward....you're on the RIGHT track brother.

*I am going to work on an elven residence, to see if I can create your vision with what I have to work with. Gods speed.

 

[Gath Of Baal]

How about a name like "The VitaLux" which is a combination of Life and Light in latin. or "The Luxenbrae" which is shadow and light combination, "Luciferians" is from Lucifer which means light bringers or bringers of light , Or the "Vitaferous" which is life and to bring... Just some food for thought

 

[DeletedUser20709]

Latin...the old school language...I like it @Gath Of Baal

 

[DeletedUser]

I was grappling with this last night and was going to comment, but I was just too tired to be coherent.

I'm a huge fan of HP Lovecraft, and your backstory for the guest race made me think of him. The potential issue is that The Dweller In Darkness is Nyarlathotep, an Elder God created by Lovecraft and later put to (arguably poor) use by August Derleth some time after Lovecraft's death. Derleth's short story "The Dweller In Darkness" appeared in Dwellers In Darkness, an anthology of his short stories published posthumously in 1976. The "Dweller in the Abyss" is a figure originating in the 16th century with the occultists Edward Kelley and John Dee, and later became an important part of Thelema, a mystical belief system created by Aleister Crowley. I personally have no problem with any of this, but things of a darker vein, even when the creatures themselves are not Evil, tend not to sit well with some people. Like the ones who were bent out of shape when we had the Halloween event taken directly from Army Of Darkness.

You asked for "criticism" so you could polish it. This is the closest thing to criticism that I have. You have a great idea @Ashrem, and I hope it gets picked up. I would suggest "Odd Ones" for the name of the race if you want to stay with the shadowy side of the path...it makes me think of the Addams Family. Weird, a bit creepy, but ultimately a fun and friendly bunch once you get to know the right relatives. But "Luminescent" is good.

 

[Ashrem]

I confess, I've never read any Lovecraft, though a nephew is a huge fan and is constantly suggesting I try it.

It probably wouldn't hurt for them to have an odd/strange bent to them. A little odd is always the most interesting.

 

[DeletedUser]

It probably wouldn't hurt for them to have an odd/strange bent to them. A little odd is always the most interesting.

I absolutely agree.

I confess, I've never read any Lovecraft, though a nephew is a huge fan and is constantly suggesting I try it.

**Takes deep breath**

Spoiler

In the world of Harry Potter, Thestrals are visible only to those whose lives have been impacted, irrevocably changed, by Death. In a similar way, Lovecraft is only palatable to those whose souls are already a bit twisted. I was familiar with Lovecraft by the age of seven (after first meeting Poe and Tolkien), and while he is one of my favorite authors, I do not recommend him lightly.

I will tell you that he was not a pleasant person, but he was friends with Harry Houdini, whom he wrote at least two short stories for. The Sci-Fi/Horror genre owes as much of a debit to him as Fantasy does to JRR Tolkien, and even Tolkien drew a bit from Lovecraft's work. Lovecraft died (eerily, on this date) in 1937, five months before The Hobbit was published, and I have to wonder what he would have thought of the horrors residing in Middle=Earth. Ultimately, RPGs owe their very existence to Lovecraft, since his Cthulhu Mythos served as the basis for D&D.

Anyway...I could go on for hours about this.

This link will take you to the only story I offer to readers new to HP, partly because it is, in my opinion, the single greatest thing he ever wrote. Also because it won't eternally taint your soul.

The Cats Of Ulthar
June, 1920
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cu.aspx

 

[Risen Malchiah]

Their first act will be to train your spellcasters in the construction of the black hole portal, which temporarily hides your city from the sun, removing the light from your city so that it is in twilight and allowing them to visit, so that together you and they may work to return light to their people and yours. The Black Hole also serves as a collection point for the new magical materials they will teach you to manipulate, starlight and moonlight, allowing you to build up a supply of these magical resources for use in advancing your city.

I absolutely love the concept, particularly the idea that it may alter the way your city map looks. A nighttime version of the landscape around your town would be awesome and I might actually be tempted to stay in that chapter for a few extra months! Bonus points if it alters the sun icon for your culture bonus and turns it into a moon.

The only sticking points might be the programming limitations of what Inno can do to alter the appearance of your buildings without having to create new artwork for *everything* that currently exists. Perhaps a filter effect could be applied that just dims the brightness a little (but not enough to hinder people's ability to play) and gets removed in areas near the roads?

But that aside, even if it didn't alter the buildings at all and just altered the background, I would totally be psyched for this theme.

Edit: Are you on beta? This idea is just too cool to be stuck on this forum where it might not have legs.

 

[Ashrem]

Are you on beta? This idea is just too cool to be stuck on this forum where it might not have legs.

Thanks. I am on beta, but infrequently. I always shop ideas around here first, and then if they engage enough people I polish and re-submit them on beta and send a PM to anyone here who commented (positive or negative) asking if they'd take the time to check it out there.

 

[SoggyShorts]

I love all the story stuff, but I've been thinking more about the mechanics of it since that's a little more in my wheelhouse.

Guest race buildings:

Luminous Street:
These replace existing roads in your city and increase your Luminescence casting light upon adjacent buildings. Additionally, productions from workshops that are adjacent to luminous streets release Lumens, a resource needed to feed the guest race buildings.
(Luminescence is like culture for settlement buildings similar to prestige from the Amuni chapter and is required for building all settlement buildings)

Refracting Pyramid:
Lumens produced by buildings from around the Refracting Pyramids pass through them and are released as Spectral Light.
(Refracting Pyramids can only gather Lumens from 1 building per level starting at level 2)

Reflecting Pool:
These reflective surfaces use light from the moon and stars to provide a passive source of Lumens for your Refracting Pyramids.
(these do not count towards a Refracting Pyramids limit)

Focusing Lens:
Focusing Lenses within range of a Refracting Pyramid redirect the Spectral Light as Radiance into the Void Portal
(Larger Focusing Lenses are able to capture more light from Refracting Pyramids that are further away, and more effectively send it into the void from a greater distance)

Void Portal:
This is the gateway between your city and the Luminarians(Luminari?). As The Void absorbs more and more Radiance the Luminarians are able to bring more of their people through and with them their knowledge of new technologies until eventually the void becomes infused with so much light that they are able to complete their escape from darkness.

The heart of the new city design challenge is that having all of your workshops bunched together is no longer effective and you need your settlement buildings spread out as much as possible for maximum effectiveness. Also, the limits of the settlement buildings range make having the Void Portal at the center of your city a more effective strategy than shoving your settlement in a corner as we often do.

Notes:

1. If the gathering radius of 2 Refracting Pyramids overlaps, they cancel each other out and are unable to gather Lumens.
2. If there are more Lumen producing buildings within a Refracting Pyramid's radius than it can handle it shuts down and is unable to gather Lumens. E.g. If you have 3 workshops inside the radius of a level 2 RF, the RF will not collect Lumens from them or Reflecting Pools.
3. If a building is moved during production, the production continues, but it will not create Lumens similar to how moving a set building resets production. This prevents players from constantly swapping buildings around to game the system.
4. Buildings produce Lumens in a similar way that making beverages/toolboxes gives medals in the challenges event, but scaled based on the level of your workshop
   
5. A Luminous street must at some point touch the void portal for it to be effective on a workshop
6. Radiance is not a resource in the traditional sense. It is not consumed by unlocking technologies but rather has a running total, and you can unlock technologies once certain thresholds are met.
7. Radiance, Lumens, and Spectral Light all decay.

 

[DeletedUser19723]

@Ashrem
I've just reread these two pages of posts. I think your idea is fantastic. I would love to play a city like the one you are creating. I can almost picture it just from your descriptions. I have no suggestions at this time, but will keep thinking. Soggy had some good things to add to the mix. This is one idea for a race/chapter that I hope Inno takes a serious look at. It could work.

 

[DeletedUser19723]

**Takes deep breath**

Loki, thanks for that spoiler. It was most interesting. I just read the story and loved it.

 

[DeletedUser]

Loki, thanks for that spoiler. It was most interesting. I just read the story and loved it.

You're welcome.

Spoiler

Re-reading that after seeing Captain Marvel gave me such a wicked chuckle.

 

[DeletedUser]

@SoggyShorts

Spectacular. @Ashrem builds the ship, you provide your own warp drive.

 

[Ashrem]

Even as invested as Soggy is

I love all the story stuff, but I've been thinking more about the mechanics of it since that's a little more in my wheelhouse.

(ensues a 500 word essay on the mechanics of a suggestion which will probably never exist)​

Bravo! I rest my case....

 

[DeletedUser20709]

Everything sounds so fantastic. You have your team @Ashrem....make it so number 1....engage.

 

[bkbajb]

The idea is sound and the name is great but what I think needs to be done is a new type of series. Example, after Constructs which is on a different plane take us to an ocean world. Then perhaps to what you are suggesting, then through the stars for several chapters. Finding both good and bad worlds to learn from. Finally after all is taught and learned we come back home for the final chapter. Hopefully they will add to the AW levels as we go along with new ones. We know the game will end at some point, I think???

 

[Risen Malchiah]

Story-wise, I can already see some of the quests involved in this concept. The orc quest giver is pleased that the bright sun is gone. But the woodelves don't like it and the halflings are upset that the darkness is interfering with their crops. The luminarians expand on the fairies' experience with night farms, and the more concentrated moonlight/starlight from upgrading the settlement combined with the magic expertise from the S&D quest givers all make it work out. (Sorry, I got carried away and had a lot more detail but it was long and speculative.)

Refracting Pyramid
Reflecting Pool
Focusing Lens
Void Portal

Are you envisioning a visual lighting effect that brightens the area between these buildings placed around the city? Or a light radius type of effect around the buildings but with a beam of light from the Focusing Lens into the Void Portal?

1. If the gathering radius of 2 Refracting Pyramids overlaps, they cancel each other out and are unable to gather Lumens.
2. If there are more Lumen producing buildings within a Refracting Pyramid's radius than it can handle it shuts down and is unable to gather Lumens. E.g. If you have 2 workshops inside the radius of a level 1 RF, the RF will not collect Lumens from them or Reflecting Pools.
3. If a building is moved during production, the production continues, but it will not create Lumens similar to how moving a set building resets production. This prevents players from constantly swapping buildings around to game the system.
4. Buildings produce Lumens in a similar way that making beverages/toolboxes gives medals in the challenges event, but scaled based on the level of your workshop
   
5. A Luminous street must at some point touch the void portal for it to be effective on a workshop
6. Radiance is not a resource in the traditional sense. It is not consumed by unlocking technologies but rather has a running total, and you can unlock technologies once certain thresholds are met.
7. Radiance, Lumens, and Spectral Light all decay.

The decay makes perfect sense and by this point, all players will understand the concept. Same with some of the other mechanics. But if buildings don't work under certain conditions, I can see it frustrating players who don't understand why their buildings aren't producing something. If that can be made more intuitive, then it could work.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Are you envisioning a visual lighting effect that brightens the area between these buildings placed around the city? Or a light radius type of effect around the buildings but with a beam of light from the Focusing Lens into the Void Portal?

The later was more what I had in mind with pockets of light around buildings, lines of light from roads and beams from lenses.
Knowing nothing about how hard any of that would be to make, I'd settle for a dimmed city with areas under influence returning to normal brightness.

if buildings don't work under certain conditions, I can see it frustrating players who don't understand why their buildings aren't producing something. If that can be made more intuitive, then it could work.

Good call. I think between a decent announcement video, smart tooltips and a couple more features like these would do it:
1. The radius needs to be shown when you pick up a building in "move" mode, perhaps highlighting the area, and having everything outside turn transparent like when you pick up a road tile.
2. A warning like the one for moving set buildings if you are about to do something that doesn't work.

Edit: perhaps less involved solution would be to make Refracting Pyramids need to touch the buildings whose lumens they are collecting, and simply not allow players to place Refracting Pyramids if their radius would touch the radius of another.

This actually also helps in limiting the number of reflecting pools you can use per RF as well...

 

[SGT AT ARMS]

The Luminescent (formerly Dwellers in Darkness )have been observing your city’s growth, and see that your technological advances and the power of your magical denizens may finally offer them a way to return to the reality they left long ago and share the new magics they have discovered in the dark world. In return for your city offering them a place to which they can return, they offer to bring unique new magical techniques and their experience with working in the darkness to your magical city.

Their first act will be to train your spellcasters in the construction of the black hole portal, which temporarily hides your city from the sun, removing the light from your city so that it is in twilight and allowing them to visit, so that together you and they may work to return light to their people and yours. The Black Hole also serves as a collection point for the new magical materials they will teach you to manipulate, starlight and moonlight, allowing you to build up a supply of these magical resources for use in advancing your city.

Their experience in capturing the faintest light of distant stars and the moon lets them teach you new methods of construction, including roads that glitter and sparkle with starlight, casting a soft illumination about them on all the buildings of your city.

• (Roads are added immediately before the portal, and a quest to upgrade them confers soft illumination on the city when it is plunged into near darkness at completion of the Black Hole Portal (first quest is to replace a minimum number of roads))

The construction methods of the Luminscent will soon be incorporated into your other buildings. Upgraded residences, manufactories, and workshops, are infused with a natural, ethereal light, which allows your people to fill spaces that were previously unused, increasing population and productivity without any changes to size or shape.

Edit: Adding list of potential elements to fit the theme

• Comets
• shooting stars
• Firefly-like beings/avatars

Totally stealing Soggy's mechanic suggestions until we can edit his stuff and mine into a cohesive whole

----------------------------------------------------------------------
(possible event to launch the new race/chapter)
Soon after the arrival in Elvenar of the Dwellers in Darkness, the magics they bring will begin to spread through the land, just in time for a great eclipse that lasts for two to four weeks and results in a worldwide celebration in which some of the resulting constructions will be infused with Starlight, lending an ethereal air to the buildings that are left behind by this event.

 

[SGT AT ARMS]

It is an interesting concept