COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
Something Shiny this way comes

Hail, my fellow Elyrians!

Shiny time is upon us, which I’m supremely glad for. Thanks to the American holiday last week, I didn’t get to share a shiny but, this week, that’s not a problem!

It’s been an interesting week what with folks coming back from a vacation, however short. When you work on a project like this you “get close to it” thanks to the amount of time you spend working on it. Especially when you’re laser-focused on a particular part of a project. You get so focused on the details that you miss the whole, sometimes.

I’ve mentioned that before, and I've mentioned how it’s good to stop and take stock now and again. But sometimes, you step back to look at the bigger picture and you miss the small details.

Take this week, for example. I’ve been mostly working on Domain and Settlement Selection (D&SS) stuff. I’ve spent the week. on the one hand, with my nose pressed against my monitor, examining every pixel the process uses to render the game map you’ll all see when D&SS begins anew. On the other hand, I’ve also been working with the rest of the design guild on advancing some of the story telling work being done in the Soulborn Engine this week, which means I’ve had my eye on the game client in a sort of general sense.


So, color me surprised when I saw this in the wilderness this week! It’s some sort of ancient ritual site, or a set of markers. I recognized the imagery, so I get where it would have come from, but I had no idea that it existed in the region, tucked away from prying eyes.

For a few moments, I had exactly the sort of experience we’re striving to make possible with the game’s mechanics: I was surprised by what I encountered in an area I thought I was familiar with. In fact, I was a little scared. I wasn’t expecting to run into anything like it out there and I started to wonder if it was still in use; if there was a hunting party watching me, even then.


And it encouraged further exploration to see what else one might find. I’d some sense, I'd been looking at the forest, but I’d forgotten to look at the trees.

Of course, once I did look deeper and discovered more, I didn’t really feel any safer. Those are manacles, right? Why would you chain someone up in a… well? Pool? I mean, to be clear: I know why. A site like that really only has one use. Knowing that didn’t make me feel any safer.

Thankfully, as you can probably imagine based on the names, these are old sites. Ancient, even. Abandoned and a little overgrown. No one sacrifices people anymore, right?

Right?

Stay shiny, my friends!

P.S. No really; no one sacrifices anyone anymore. ;)

P.P.S. For those not in the know, the low-poly "low-fidelity" art style you're seeing is a screenshot from our pre-alpha client. We use this style for our implementation work because it allows us to iterate quickly on mechanics and features without forcing the art guild to continuously rework high-poly high detail models while we work out certain pipelines. This is not indicative of Chronicle of Elyria's final art style.


  • Snipehunter
7/12/2019 1:42:58 AM #1

...are you sure no one uses that ancient site anymore...?


7/12/2019 1:44:39 AM #2

Awesome! Love the sacrificial and ritual sites! I am glad that even you devs can be pleasantly surprised by things in the game!


67CAC0

"Different denotes neither bad nor good, but it certainly means not the same."

-Just a lowly beekeeper

7/12/2019 1:44:41 AM #3

I like that you were surprised by what you found! that honestly makes it all the better that the devs don't know where everything is, and haven't experienced everything themselves (it's something i really like in Elite dangerous as well)


7/12/2019 1:45:39 AM #4

Nice yes ,sacrifices, blood, violence...my kind of thing...


7/12/2019 1:46:31 AM #5

Ok now I want to dig around there. Awesome ruins, or are they ruins?


Divide et Impera

7/12/2019 1:47:12 AM #6

Looks like a kypiq grill station. yumm


7/12/2019 1:47:23 AM #7

Posted By MishkaRae at 8:42 PM - Thu Jul 11 2019

...are you sure no one uses that ancient site anymore...?

Don't worry, I went with my guards personally to investigate and the gentleman forester I met there (very well-crafted coin purse, by the way) assured me that the site never sees use.


7/12/2019 1:47:54 AM #8

Spooky! Time to delve in and find more clues, who were these people? Where are they now?


Countess Aurabella

7/12/2019 2:23:19 AM #9

Yet the waerd do.... Interesting thing you forgot about the longest night....

7/12/2019 3:11:22 AM #10

wow love the Ritual Masks (totems) and I know a few people (Lady Grace) that are going to love the Sacrificial Site (alter) and will want to find 1 and clean it up and use it


From Our Farm Gate To Your Dinner Plate.

Friend Code : EE5C8E

7/12/2019 3:13:11 AM #11

Posted By MishkaRae at 6:42 PM - Thu Jul 11 2019

...are you sure no one uses that ancient site anymore...?

It looks like a nice place for a wedding, wouldn't you say?


7/12/2019 4:12:15 AM #12

Blood for the blood gods?


7/12/2019 5:04:08 AM #13

It says a lot about the adaptability of the engine if it surprises you guys with new stuff. This just makes me more eager to dive in. :)


Tentative plans: To'resk, looking to settle in the Kingdom of Riftwood, NA - W Angelica.

7/12/2019 5:26:19 AM #14

Awesome!


Duke of Turadh Friend Code 1537DA

Alt text - can be left blank

7/12/2019 5:39:58 AM #15

Oh you little tease, Snipe! - (you're So good at it!). Very intriguing.


Physician, Alchemist & Herbalist to the Duchy of Anor, Al-Khezam - Selene (EU) Server