Fed II Star - March 12, 2006

ELIJAH'S PLANET DESIGN GUIDE
Part 4: But, where will I sleep?

Call me evil, mean-spirited, and hateful. Accuse me of raining on parades, and stealing candy from babies, but first tell me what's the point of houses? This is a important design issue, it's the creation of houses where so many people give up their storyline, their plot, just because they want to have a place, or a place for their friends, to call home. And it's turning into one of my biggest pet peeves.

A few months back I joked that a planet wasn't a planet unless it had a house for certain player. It seemed every player planet had a home, this person had more homes than Sol has NanoFabric factories. And I don't think he ever used any of them - what a waste of locations. In addition to being a waste of locations, his house never fit in with the planet, or just barely, but was still a sore point in the design.

So I ask you, why? What's the purpose? Most people just sit in bars, so much so that on player planets you find a droid willing to give you a drink in the strangest of locations. It's become taboo to sit in a location without a bar flag. (Another all too common design flaw; there should not be a waitdroid in the middle of a tropical forest! If it has a bar flag, it better be a bar.)

So, if most people flock to bars, and they are the social center of the universes, why have a house? Is it to fulfill a fantasy of what you would want your ideal house to look like? Is it so you have a private location to go to in the game? Nowhere is private in Federation; the Martian Ruins would perhaps be more private than any home you could create for yourself.

Perhaps you think your planet would have a house, perhaps you don't think that it's a random fit. That's fine, go for it. My planet will have a bunch of houses, none of them I'll consider mine or a friends though. They'll be for the inhabitants of my planet, and you'll likely only be able to enter one or two, and even then I doubt you'll be able to stay for long. But, the houses on my planet will be a part of the story of my planet. Which makes houses not so annoying, because visiting a house on my planet will effect the story. Every location of your planet should further your planets story. If the houses don't, rip them out.

Another thing that you should take into consideration is room titles or short descriptions. You should not label a bedroom in a house "Newbod's Bedroom." How does the explorer know that the room they so rudely wandered into is Newbods? Put a sign on the door or something. In fact, never label anything, unless somewhere in the long description you've given a reason for that room to be identifiable. An exchange you can label Exchange because it would be hard to misidentify.

Another thing is, if you want a house, it should at least have a layout that vaguely resembles a house, there should be bathrooms, and hallways. Think the Mansion on Earth. I once invaded a beautiful house on a planet in Classic Fed; it was beach themed, and appropriately right off of one of the most beautiful written beaches I've ever seen in Fed. And as I wandered through the house, I could sense a real layout. It felt like a actual house, a structure that I was familiar with.

This article is probably one where I can be accused of rambling more so than I usually do, and I apologize, I am writing closer to deadline than normal. However, it's a article I hope you'll look to the heart of, and consider. Why have a house? What does it offer my story? How does it expand my planet? And If I want a house, how can I do it in a way that feels natural to the explorer who will wander in.

Because I love exceptions - If you feel you have a ideal house in Federation II, a house that you can boast about, send me a email at Matthew.C.Hall@gmail.com and if I like it I might send people your way.