Richard
Garriott's Tabula Rasa
Science fiction MMORPG
Instance map: Fluxite Mines
Located on the
subcontinent of Torden Mires, Fluxite Mines is a Bane
stronghold with a fairly established mining operation.
The unique mineral, Fluxite, has electrical properties which
the Bane are utilizing for new weapon development. The AFS has charged the player with infiltrating the mines,
stopping the production, and overtaking the nearby dropship
area.
Design Goals:
During this stage in
the development in Tabula Rasa, I began looking for unique
ways to create compact instance maps. Finding the
right balance of travel time within instances was important
to me since larger maps in MMOs have completion issues for
players.
At the onset
of the map's development, I felt it important to illustrate
the industrial process of the mining operation. The
player should get a good sense of how the Bane monitor the
process, extract the fluxite ore, convene it to separator
units, and finally transport out the mine.
I also wanted to
give the players a sense of how the Bane's mining venture
connected the natural formation of the subcontinent.
As they move through the mine, they would go deeper into
planet's crust and towards the end scale to higher
elevations.
Above is a
screenshot of the craggy Mires peaks surrounding the Bane
dropship area.
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