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by moss
Death! Despair!! Dragons!!!
3 years ago
LOREDUMP TIME!! >:D
I've explained a lot, but more questions are always welcome.
(also I'm probably not making a game out of this. I just wanted to draw what it would look like if I did. The 300x240 resolution is something I want to use for KAS, maybe also for Lavender Star and (REDACTED). So I consider this practice.)
(this is the version of this submission without "lighting". I like it better. check Scraps for the other.)
+++
A TRAIN STATION PLATFORM has been built into the rock. Or perhaps carved? It's hard to tell. A line Holystone PILLARS separates a waiting area from the platform proper. You could RETURN to the waiting area if you chose.
Mirror LAMPS near the ceiling provide illumination, except for where one MIRROR has fallen. Between two pillars, a high-tech TRAIN BOARD sizzles. A CLOCK stands quietly nearby.
The platform is not empty. Along with you, there are a couple of CANIDS consulting a map. A DEER thing rests on a bench. A dejected-looking MERCHANT of uncertain species fiddles with her non-functional FOOD CART. And a KOBOLD with a briefcase watches from the sidelines.
-> EXAMINE
What do you wish to examine?
EXAMINE -> PILLARS
Simple fluted columns branch out into bricked archways painted in bold colors. Reliefs of alien plants adorn the space, as well as a purple GRAFFITI scribble from a separate artist. The paint has flaked away where the bizarre living stone has shifted and reorganized.
EXAMINE -> TRAIN BOARD
A glowing display board is mounted between two pillars, crackling gently and emitting a faint metallic smell. Combining your limited knowledge of the language with your TRAIN MAP, you determine that the next three trains are for the Trident City, Starlight City, and "Sonodyn" lines.
EXAMINE -> CLOCK
A pair of two concentric dials stand proud. The inner one probably corresponds to the sky's color. It's pointing at a bright yellow-green color. The outer one is not labeled, but is 1/4th of the way around. A digital display below says the time is "15:14:56", whatever that means.
EXAMINE -> GRAFFITI
Something is scrawled on the bricks high above the arches. By your best guess, it reads "world = the fuck-center"... Guess there are juvenile delinquents even here.
EXAMINE -> FOOD CART
This enterprising MERCHANT's cart seems to have a built-in deep-frier, allowing for the creation of delicious, if not healthy, goods. It doesn't seem to be working right now.
EXAMINE -> LAMPS
Big projector lamps are bolted to the high wall. They shine onto dull mirrors which diffuse the light to the platform below. One of such MIRRORs has come loose and now sits on the floor.
EXAMINE -> MIRROR
A dented mess of struts and painted metal lies on the floor by the KOBOLD's feet. With no mirror to mediate, the ember LAMPS overhead shine directly at each other, illuminating very little. The backside of the mirror has several aluminum cooling fins welded to it.
EXAMINE -> MERCHANT
Someone large, green, and hairy mans the FOOD CART. She looks disappointed, despite having no visible features with which to convey disappointment.
EXAMINE -> CANIDS
More blue canine friends. They appear to be lost. One of them checks a large fold-out map while another seems to be searching his ticket again.
EXAMINE -> DEER
A purple alien ungulate sits on a distant bench. Between their impressive antlers (or perhaps horns?), space warps and forms a glowing blue eye. This eye surveys the area in a distinctly bored way.
EXAMINE -> KOBOLD
Near the fallen MIRROR, a red kobold stands with a briefcase. They look a little ruffled but are hiding it well. Almost.
+++
And now, things our imaginary protagonist Doesn't Know:
HOLYSTONE: A slightly porous rock-like material that makes up most of The Roots. It is most notable for having mass but no weight. This anti-gravity effect fades if you disconnect it from The Roots for too long. Making structures out of it is good, especially if the Roots decide to use your columns as transport channels and reinforce them. If you're REALLY clever, you can even get the Roots to do your plumbing for you!
TIME: Underfloor time is measured in Cycles, Days, Hours, and Parts. The time shown on the clock is 15 Days, 14 Hours, and 56 Parts, which feels a little like 1PM on Earth.
One Cycle can be broken into 24 Days, 1440 Hours, or 86400 Parts, or 17280000 Ticks.
One Cycle is equal to twenty Earth-days, plus or minus a couple Earth-hours, and corresponds to the main day-night cycle of The Underfloor.
One Day is equal to 20 Earth-hours and (almost) corresponds to the rise and fall of Firemoss ember production.
An Hour is 20 minutes and a Part is 20 seconds; both of these are arbitrary lengths of time, chosen because 60 is a nice number to divide.
DIFFUSION LAMPS: A small high-efficiency molybdenum catalyst plate actualizes ember into light, then is cooled with a metal heat sink and a fan. The light emitted shines onto a set of bright, stain-resistant surfaces, diffusing the light. Makes for even, wide-spectrum lighting.
This way is actually easier and less expensive than having a large catalyst out in the open that also needs to be plumbed up and cooled.
SIGN: An Active Catalyzer Display board. Saves a bunch of plumbing by having catalysts that vary their actualization based on electrical signals. ACDs can have smaller, faster-responding segments and can more easily vary the brightness of individual segments. They also don't dim as much when too many segments are active. In exchange, ACDs are less efficient than normal displays, and they require electricity to function.
Electricity is relatively new to The Underfloor. The electromechanical monster of a control system for this system (not pictured) is loosely based on movable-type printing. But more about that another time.
GRAFFITI: In a piece of very casual grammar, the particles DE (subject) and KE (object) are taking the place of a verb. In this case, it's probably HEN.
Compound word swears such as "GYLNENALONGAL" (literally, "THE realm of the essence of fuck") are quite popular. More on that once I invent more cuss words.
Letters in LANG-01 are treated the same no matter the orientation. This means that some roots, such as "NEN" for essence or center, can be written very compactly.
I've explained a lot, but more questions are always welcome.
(also I'm probably not making a game out of this. I just wanted to draw what it would look like if I did. The 300x240 resolution is something I want to use for KAS, maybe also for Lavender Star and (REDACTED). So I consider this practice.)
(this is the version of this submission without "lighting". I like it better. check Scraps for the other.)
+++
A TRAIN STATION PLATFORM has been built into the rock. Or perhaps carved? It's hard to tell. A line Holystone PILLARS separates a waiting area from the platform proper. You could RETURN to the waiting area if you chose.
Mirror LAMPS near the ceiling provide illumination, except for where one MIRROR has fallen. Between two pillars, a high-tech TRAIN BOARD sizzles. A CLOCK stands quietly nearby.
The platform is not empty. Along with you, there are a couple of CANIDS consulting a map. A DEER thing rests on a bench. A dejected-looking MERCHANT of uncertain species fiddles with her non-functional FOOD CART. And a KOBOLD with a briefcase watches from the sidelines.
-> EXAMINE
What do you wish to examine?
EXAMINE -> PILLARS
Simple fluted columns branch out into bricked archways painted in bold colors. Reliefs of alien plants adorn the space, as well as a purple GRAFFITI scribble from a separate artist. The paint has flaked away where the bizarre living stone has shifted and reorganized.
EXAMINE -> TRAIN BOARD
A glowing display board is mounted between two pillars, crackling gently and emitting a faint metallic smell. Combining your limited knowledge of the language with your TRAIN MAP, you determine that the next three trains are for the Trident City, Starlight City, and "Sonodyn" lines.
EXAMINE -> CLOCK
A pair of two concentric dials stand proud. The inner one probably corresponds to the sky's color. It's pointing at a bright yellow-green color. The outer one is not labeled, but is 1/4th of the way around. A digital display below says the time is "15:14:56", whatever that means.
EXAMINE -> GRAFFITI
Something is scrawled on the bricks high above the arches. By your best guess, it reads "world = the fuck-center"... Guess there are juvenile delinquents even here.
EXAMINE -> FOOD CART
This enterprising MERCHANT's cart seems to have a built-in deep-frier, allowing for the creation of delicious, if not healthy, goods. It doesn't seem to be working right now.
EXAMINE -> LAMPS
Big projector lamps are bolted to the high wall. They shine onto dull mirrors which diffuse the light to the platform below. One of such MIRRORs has come loose and now sits on the floor.
EXAMINE -> MIRROR
A dented mess of struts and painted metal lies on the floor by the KOBOLD's feet. With no mirror to mediate, the ember LAMPS overhead shine directly at each other, illuminating very little. The backside of the mirror has several aluminum cooling fins welded to it.
EXAMINE -> MERCHANT
Someone large, green, and hairy mans the FOOD CART. She looks disappointed, despite having no visible features with which to convey disappointment.
EXAMINE -> CANIDS
More blue canine friends. They appear to be lost. One of them checks a large fold-out map while another seems to be searching his ticket again.
EXAMINE -> DEER
A purple alien ungulate sits on a distant bench. Between their impressive antlers (or perhaps horns?), space warps and forms a glowing blue eye. This eye surveys the area in a distinctly bored way.
EXAMINE -> KOBOLD
Near the fallen MIRROR, a red kobold stands with a briefcase. They look a little ruffled but are hiding it well. Almost.
+++
And now, things our imaginary protagonist Doesn't Know:
HOLYSTONE: A slightly porous rock-like material that makes up most of The Roots. It is most notable for having mass but no weight. This anti-gravity effect fades if you disconnect it from The Roots for too long. Making structures out of it is good, especially if the Roots decide to use your columns as transport channels and reinforce them. If you're REALLY clever, you can even get the Roots to do your plumbing for you!
TIME: Underfloor time is measured in Cycles, Days, Hours, and Parts. The time shown on the clock is 15 Days, 14 Hours, and 56 Parts, which feels a little like 1PM on Earth.
One Cycle can be broken into 24 Days, 1440 Hours, or 86400 Parts, or 17280000 Ticks.
One Cycle is equal to twenty Earth-days, plus or minus a couple Earth-hours, and corresponds to the main day-night cycle of The Underfloor.
One Day is equal to 20 Earth-hours and (almost) corresponds to the rise and fall of Firemoss ember production.
An Hour is 20 minutes and a Part is 20 seconds; both of these are arbitrary lengths of time, chosen because 60 is a nice number to divide.
DIFFUSION LAMPS: A small high-efficiency molybdenum catalyst plate actualizes ember into light, then is cooled with a metal heat sink and a fan. The light emitted shines onto a set of bright, stain-resistant surfaces, diffusing the light. Makes for even, wide-spectrum lighting.
This way is actually easier and less expensive than having a large catalyst out in the open that also needs to be plumbed up and cooled.
SIGN: An Active Catalyzer Display board. Saves a bunch of plumbing by having catalysts that vary their actualization based on electrical signals. ACDs can have smaller, faster-responding segments and can more easily vary the brightness of individual segments. They also don't dim as much when too many segments are active. In exchange, ACDs are less efficient than normal displays, and they require electricity to function.
Electricity is relatively new to The Underfloor. The electromechanical monster of a control system for this system (not pictured) is loosely based on movable-type printing. But more about that another time.
GRAFFITI: In a piece of very casual grammar, the particles DE (subject) and KE (object) are taking the place of a verb. In this case, it's probably HEN.
Compound word swears such as "GYLNENALONGAL" (literally, "THE realm of the essence of fuck") are quite popular. More on that once I invent more cuss words.
Letters in LANG-01 are treated the same no matter the orientation. This means that some roots, such as "NEN" for essence or center, can be written very compactly.
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I see they're going straight to glowing displays and not split-flap electromechanical displays.
Does Ember get consumed by the lamps?
The idea of the station reminds me of the one in Hiveswap Act 2 (e.g. 1, 2), but only because it's a well-used alien train station that the protagonist doesn't fully understand, not in any of the specifics.
Split-flap things are really cool, but I already had the sketch for this and decided to go with it. Glowing displays were developed earlier than moving displays since Ember is easy to turn into light, but it requires some sort of engine to turn ember into kinetic energy. The train system would probably have gone for split-flap boards earlier if the current model of electric motors were better.
The lamps do use up the Ember, but there are always ways to produce more of it. I keep trying to think of Ember as another form of energy, but since it's also magic it can act. strangely.