Dacy

@Coyotedancer, nothing in my guidelines says a base has to be flashy. Looking good is the most subjective thing there is; what's awesome to one might be horrible to another. I would call out a base that's well organized that I think you would like, if you care to visit (not mine), Ghost-1471 on Everlasting. Definitely more natural tones. Well organized. @Eva Destruction, This is true, and without testing I can't tell what the majority of people would expect to find, where. But I try my best to make it as logical as I know how. What I was getting at is I've been in some bases where things are just scattered, with no logic I can see at all. Combine that with a big base, which I've often seen happen, and honestly I don't see how people use it. You're right, things can be memorized, but they are easier to memorize if they are at least grouped, imo. I agree; my home base isn't flashy or big, first of all because it's for my sg, and they'd rather not have a big base, they want everything close in and easy to navigate. And I've learned to appreciate smaller bases. You are right, some large bases hardly lag; often it's a matter of how many fx you have, and water, etc. I've had bases with items far below the cap where the lag was horrible because of fx. But I think the lag is a consideration, and just in terms of size, the more items you have, the more you risk snafus with the storage, because the base has to rewrite itself every time storage is accessed. The more items, the more of a chance that something goes wrong. I'm sorry you got lost in my space ship base several times; the floor you come in on, tho, is where all the services are. The rest is gravy/window dressing. I think I made it so it's hard to get lost on the service floor. 🙂 And yes, it would have been awesome to be able to rename the points, I know this would help in many bases for people to be able to find places more easily. Also, smaller text so you could label destinations would help. -Dacy

DATE: May 9th, 2020 TIMES: The Event will start at 12:00 NOON EST. All entries must be submitted no later than 5:00PM EST, and the winners will be announced by 5:15 PM EST. HOW IT WORKS: 1. Enter by sending an in-game email to @Invincer or @Dacy, or by stating your interest on the forums in the announcement topic, giving us your in game global. 2. You will get back an in game email with a start time. 3. When you show up for the event, you will be given the list and base layout tips in emails (which will not be given until 5 minutes before your official entry time). 4. Enter the base and start your Scavenger Hunt! 5. Submit your list of all the items you could find and where you found them to @Invincer or @Dacy when you are finished. (See below for specifics) SUPERGROUP: The Invincible Ones PRIZES: 1st Place (First person to find all 25 items in the fastest amount of time*) - 1 BILLION influence/infamy 2nd through 5th Place (Ranked by highest item count and fastest time**) - 100 Million Inf Each 6th through 10th Place (Ranked by item count and fastest time**) - 10 Million Inf Each EVERY participant who does not place in the top 10 who puts in a little time and finds 12 items will get a Thank You for Participating Award of 1 Mil Inf!! *In the event that no one finds all 25 items, the person who collects the most items in the least amount of time will be the winner. **In the event of a tie in the number of items found, the faster time will be ranked ahead of the slower time. DESCRIPTION: The Invincible Ones is a Super Group on Excelsior with a mix of RP and PVE heroes and villains. Our recently commissioned Starship cruiser The Oranderite is our base (by @Dacy), and it offers all base services conveniently close to the entry, an amazing array of onboard amenities (all carefully designed to be RP friendly) in a gorgeous ship anyone would be proud to claim as their base. We want to show off our amazing starship! Currently, our sg roster has fewer active members than we would prefer. We would like to host task forces, costume contests, and other fun events, so we need more members who like to have fun, and some who like to lead! Are you looking for a sg that will value your contributions? Come see our base, and consider joining an up and coming group looking to make the most out of whatever time you have to spend in the City! EVENT DETAILS: There will be 25 items from different locations throughout the Oranderite Starship which have been chosen or placed especially for you to find. Before the event begins, you will be sent an in-game email with some details about the base layout, and another with a numbered list of the items you will need to find. You will be on a league team to help us keep track of your entry time, but you will be working independently. The items are mostly part of the Starship, but a few have been placed that do not really belong. Contestants need to find as many items from the Scavenger Hunt List as they can in the Starship. Each room will have a clearly placed red letter of the alphabet in it at the entrance or entrances. To enter your answers for the contest, simply reply to the email you got with the list. Delete the text in the reply, and write down the number of the item from the list, and put next to it the letter of the room in which you found the item as you go along. The original list can be left up to use as a guide throughout the hunt. Use the in game email to send the list back to @Invincer or @Dacy. The time stamp on the email will be used to calculate the winners in cases of a tie. It’s important to send a list with only the numbers and the corresponding letters so that it will fit within the limits of the in game email. Double check your answers, because accuracy is important! There will be 1 entry per Global account. There will be a limited number of contestants possible, so enter right away! Entrance to base time is assigned on a first come, first served basis, so the earlier you enter, the earlier your entrance time will be. If you would like to explore the base in advance to give you a heads-up ahead of time for the Starship's layout, the base is open to the public, Base Code: ONES-5030. You may also contact @Dacy for a tour. Thank you in advance to all the participants, and GOOD LUCK! 🙂 Invincer: Leader of the Invincible Ones (Global: @Invincer)

The ship is the base. Decks D, K, and L are inside the base. The bridge, services deck, night club, arboretum, and shuttle bay are all on top of the base, so to have views and the access to the outside through the shuttle bay. -Dacy

Recently, I realized I have unspoken guidelines I use when building my own bases, and if I'm honest, they are the criteria I'm considering when I'm looking at other bases, too. I bet other people have their own criteria for what makes a good base...and it very well may not be the same as mine! I'm curious as to what sort of guidelines we are using when we build. Mine, I know, are heavily influenced by the concepts of Usability, a field my husband is in (think user friendly experience; making things feel easy and intuitive.) So here are some of what I've been able to verbalize as concepts I am using: Build as small as possible. Yes, sometimes your project is big, and big bases are impressive, but big bases also have problems with lag, some memory/storage potential problems, and the larger they are, the more likely they are to be overwhelming to guests and even your own sg. Big bases must follow the rest of these rules closely to work well. Have logic and organization. This one is hard! This is the most difficult thing to define or determine. It's really a usability issue: where will people expect to find things? What is the logical way you would get to that place? Maybe it looks really cool, but if the organization isn't logical, it's going to confuse people, and confused people leave bases. Put the services near the entry. This is another usability issue, but I find that most people, even those who RP, want to be able to quickly use base services when they are needed. These, fortunately, can be disguised to a large degree, and should be grouped logically so that you find all of a particular type of service in one area. Sure, you may then wish to spread out some other NPCs throughout the base, but people do not want to wander all over to find what they need, especially if the base is large. Think convenience when designing services. Then think, how can I make these look like they fit my theme and look good? Flow. This goes back to your base organization and logic. Does it flow? Can people figure out how to get around your base intuitively? Does it make sense? It's a little different from just organization and logic, flow should be effortless, intuitive, but the basis of flow IS the logic and organization, so they are closely related. Continuity and compatibility. This is just a personal one, but I think it makes a big impact on your base's impression. Are the items you used consistent with the overall look and theme? We have items from all different types of things; there's tech, arcane, medieval, gritty/sewer, and a host of eclectic items. I've seen these blended well so that the tech looked arcane, or there was a reason why the arcane was next to the tech, but I've also seen bases where it looked like little thought was given as to the cohesiveness of the overall base, it was just, “hmm, this is cool”. To me, even if that individual piece looks "cool", a mishmash isn't so "cool". What do you think? Does this make sense? Do you agree, or if not, where do you disagree, and why? I'm interested to hear what you think! -Dacy

Oh wow, haven't tried that! That will work when I accidentally click twice, tho the editor often tps me without clicking, sometimes just with starting to turn something, but I will see if that helps that, too! Thanks! -Dacy

It took me from the beginning of February, so just a week(ish) shy of 3 months. There are exactly 12k items, counting the base entry. Thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, there are definitely Star Trek influences, as per request; there is also a touch of Battlestar Galactica and The Expanse. Someone mentioned Red Dwarf, which is a lot less shiny, but, since I've seen that, who knows, could be in there. 🙂 The bridge, services, nightclub, arboretum, and shuttle bay are all on top of the base. The rest of the ship is inside the base. Did you find the two windows which aren't actually windows? 😉 Had to figure out a new trick to put the front and back on the ship. Those rounded segments are some of the pieces that suddenly had begun to give me trouble in placement. Suddenly they were touchy about how close to the edge of the room they would allow placement, and it wasn't very close! So...I added a room right next to the base, with adjoining doors, placed the item (which really should have already allowed placement), and removed the room, and it worked. Things usually stayed where I put them! I did the same on the back to get the entirely upright Arachnos balconies to place, plus the tanks and fx, without any of them sticking thru the walls. I was so glad it let me do that, because I'd already finished most of the back end of the interior, and really did not want to add another row of rooms plus the non-negotiable row of doors in order to just get the backside. It would either leave me with length I did not want (and would then have to finish out, in the shuttle bay), or I would have had to redo parts of the last rooms to cover the intrusion. So, new trick. 🙂 Thank you for the kind words. Nice to hear, especially when it comes from an excellent base builder! 🙂 -Dacy

You're invited to tour a newly completed base. If you would also be interested in joining the sg, please contact @Invincer. Tour on your own, or contact @Dacy. Starship Cruiser Oranderite. (Base code ONES-5030) With an interior both pragmatic and comfortable (and RP friendly). A nightclub! Quartermaster/Supply (workroom) Gym Arboretum Plus, a Rec Room, Holodeck, Cafeteria, Conference, living quarters, Theater, Artillery Range, Practice/Danger Room, and more. Come and see! -Dacy

Now complete and open to the public, stop by for a visit! Spaceship Oranderite, the base for the Invincible Ones, code ONES-5030. Space ship, inside and out. Bridge/service deck (workroom/quartermaster supply, science lab (insp and buffs), med bay, and transporter room) Nightclub Arboretum Shuttlebay (with large shuttle accessible only from lift in shuttlebay {Z}) Rec room/lounge Holodeck Conference Room Cafeteria Engineering Captain's quarters Captain's ready room (accessible only from bridge) VIP quarters First Mate quarters artillery range Practice/Danger room gym theater We hope you can stop by! Feel free to message @Dacyfor a tour. 🙂 Here are just a few glimpses: (set /visscale 10 for best results on viewing outside of ship) - Dacy Hope to see you soon!

Remade the front of my space ship. Finished the shuttle bay. Almost done with everything! ONES-5030 on Excelsior. -Dacy

Wow, Easter Bunny, just...wow. That girder ceiling ALONE....really nice work! Really nice, Heraclea. 🙂 Wolfgang, that is...dauntingly huge. Definitely looks like a lot of work going on! -Dacy

Bummer, Dark Wing. Would you like me to offer a few suggestions? I have met these problems and have solutions for some of them. 🙂 -Dacy

Yes, the farther you are from the base, the farther the shift, sometimes. Okay, couple of things to try. First, put your grid on, if you can put it on 1, that's the most likely to stay, but even at 1/4, it should help. Second: try facing the objects a different way and/or moving their location even just a bit. For some reason, different areas of a room will have different shifts. I don't know why, but my last base convinced me. I had things facing east/west that did not move, but things facing north or south moved a lot. In placing plates, it will go stays..stays...stays...shifts!...stays...stays when I line them up as a wall running the length of a room or two. The shift, regardless of the item, was always in the same place in the room, running east to west across the room, which ran north and south (in other words, it went across the room at the same place, bisecting the room). So it could be that that particular combo will do better in another location (I had to redo much of the room when I couldn't get the n/s items to stop shifting, so now everything where shift matters is now facing east/west). Third, and this is likely the hardest to pull off: angle the items to where you want them. As an example, it looks to me like the only major thing that shifted is the ...I know I'm not going to spell it right, that ring. the outer ring. There should be a way to get it so you can angle the ring without altering the upright angle. Think like if you were placing it around a clockface, moving it from say, 3 O'clock to say, 1 O'clock. Then you sink it down more so it's at relatively the same height. Experimenting with this sort of shift, you should be able to find a location where the item no longer shifts, and where the angle you have it set to makes it look like it's in the same placement as where it is in the first picture. I hope I described that well enough for you to understand. If not, I'll be happy to come in and show you what I mean. Ring placed without alteration. Alt/shifted to rotate upwards and to left. Note the center is now to the left. Now I'd just move it to the right to center it on my design, and sink to desired level. Experiment until the editor agrees that it will leave it in place. 🙂 Good luck! -Dacy

Sorry to hear that, I will check with the owner and get back in if I can, and reset the portal. Happens sometimes... -Dacy

Whoaa......that's awesome...are the "light beams" from...well, in the first picture, is that light stream fx? Or a different one? Where is this, what's the code, and what exactly is the concept? I'm getting alien, but not sure what all is being represented (I'm sure it's very clear once the concept is known, as you clearly know exactly what you are doing!) -Dacy

Cityscape...there are a lot of statues that got dumped in there, and several moving pieces. I bet you'll find several things that will do quite nicely. As far as movement goes, no, you cannot attach things to moving things and have them move, as well. About all you could do is put up black banners (prohibitive if you're doing this in the sky) and have moving things move so they appear and disappear. You might check out "critters", there are a couple of bug-type critters that might look like sky things. Also, tech defense, believe it or not, the stealth field, I think it is, has a neat effect, and also, just fx, ambient; several things there. There are also floating rocks in Nature, and I think they move a bit. Never used them, so not sure. Good luck! -Dacy

I do have lots of items memorized. I’m looking for things I don’t often use, or looking thru the editor with a certain aspect in mind, so, that’s like seeing things with new eyes. My memory is pretty good, but sometimes it’s, “oh, RIGHT! That piece!” I just didn’t want you to get discouraged by making it sound like it’s more work than it is. Also realize re: the patience, is that I’m a perfectionist, so I spend a lot of time with very fine detail that others may not find necessary. In other words, that may not be your thing. 😊 When adding favorite tabs, add bathroom and kitchen, medical and science, and alphabet to your list. They have a large number of tintable items, and I could never count how many things I’ve made that I couldn’t do without those categories. They are huge for me. -Dacy

Well, okay, I don't always have to go thru the editor for every piece, and I certainly can skip some tabs if I'm looking for say, tech stuff, I'd not look in bio-organic. Or nature. Valuables is a pretty limited area, I am not sure I've ever used anything from there. And on and on. And at this point, I have a good idea of what I will find where, but sometimes I still go looking to see if I can see something in a new way. So I've been thru the editor, all of it, multiple multiple times, but not the whole thing for one item, nor every time, since I can eliminate some categories right off. It's categories like Room Details, Tech, Cityscape, Structures, and Shopping that typically have the most I go thru carefully, because of the wide range of textures, sizes, materials, and kinds of items you find in those places. You can find unexpectedly useful shapes and smaller items in weapons, bath and kitchen, gym, medical and science, and sometimes shopping and room details, so if I'm looking for small and unusual bits, I'll look there. And so on. -Dacy

Yes, it's my main base. It's on Everlasting, Overkill-2729, it's an underwater base in the middle of an island lagoon. You can get to the island by going thru the teleporter labeled "other", and go to the only internal porter listed, I think it's Beth. I haven't done anything with it since I built it, it was built to be interesting, but small, convenient for services, and it was built before the glass additions to the editor. I should go put that glass on the inside, because what I did was just use invisible walls, since all the glass killed the fx I wanted. I got the "sea" effect with lighting and landscaping. But, I've been busy building bases for others, and no one in my sg really cares about it, so I've just left it, lol. 🙂 The island wasn't ever completed, either, it should have more vegetation, but it's okay as is, too; few ever go up there. Feel free to look around. -Dacy

Thanks, @Fasttrack! Interesting categories for base builders. I had not thought about it before. I think that the thing that makes someone really stand out in base building is, first and foremost, the desire to create and do it well. Like any art, and I do feel it is art, attention to detail and imagination and vision are hugely instrumental in achieving a good outcome. And, like art, the more you practice and the more you want to do it well, the better you will become. There is also a certain amount of patience (okay, vast amounts of patience!), perseverance, and problem-solving skills that go into base building. Coupled with the desire to make it the best it can be, these qualities make me, for instance, think, "I want to make x"...looks in editor. Hmm. Nothing like that here. "Okay, what IS here that might be made to look like X?" And I keep looking and keep experimenting until I find what works, if anything. I can't tell you how many times I've been thru all of the editor. All of it. Looking for that one thing that I can use in a particular item. Looking at the backside of things, the undersides of things, the size of things, the depth of things, and using my problem solving skills to figure out how to get from where I am to where I want to be. The commands, and the proficiency with the editor, yeah, that helps for sure, but the people who will continue to excellence have more than a good command of how to edit, they have the vision and drive and persistence to get from a blank slate to a work of wonder. So, my friend, as you said, "it's my imagination that steers the ship"...I do believe you are on your way. 🙂 The videos are on hold, sure, but I'm still here, as are many other super talented folks, ready to help and applaud you as you keep on creating. 🙂 -Dacy

If you go down far enough in the base plot, it’s almost impossible to see the base. It will disappear sooner if it’s not got a ceiling and a bunch of stuff in it, but it should still disappear at the bottom of the plot. I’m just saying, you don’t have to put something like a cave, you could even have the sky open. Plus, there are placeable skies, like vortex, that could block the view if you can see the base a bit. I’m sorry, I don’t really have anything I can add as far as ideas. Bases are so individual… I bet as you think about it more, you’ll find something that works for your situation. 😊 -Dacy

My guess is that it something that gets worse as your item count gets higher, because that makes the most sense, but who knows? Aargh, that sounds frustrating! Same thing I have noticed, it seems like there are a lot more items that are suddenly picky about placement. I get the “edit failed can’t fit” message when I’m sure that the item should fit; it’s like some items see the room as having different boundaries or something. But, when something doesn’t want to place as close to the wall as I think it should or I want it closer, I have a trick. It only works if the room your working on isn’t right next to the edge. If you can put a room or a door leading from the space you are working on, and then place the items, they should stay when you delete the doorway or the room that you added. -Dacy

That's pretty much the same with all bases, heh. I did an underwater base, but, I wanted to be able to see fish, and water kills the fish fx, so I didn't put water up against the glass. Cool look, tho! I may have to rethink that. 🙂 -Dacy

Approaching completion on the base I'm working on on Excelsior, ONES-5030, if you want to drop by and look around. The base includes the inside and outside of a space ship. Space ship contains bridge (with access to ready room), teleporter station, med bay, workshop/quartermaster supply, science station, and that's all in the first small area you start in (I believe in making services available for quick access, the rest of the base is there for RP and window dressing). The rest of the ship has: Nightclub, arboretum/hydroponics (still under construction), shuttle bay (still under construction). Bottom deck: engineering, captain's quarters, VIP quarters, and still to come, two officer quarters; artillery range, practice room (almost done), gym, theater, and crew quarters line the halls. Mid deck: conference room, cafeteria, crew quarters. Top deck (within base bounds): lounge/rec room, holodeck, crew quarters. Most of the outside of the ship is done, with some detail work still to come on the top back of the ship. Here are a few shots, in addition to the ones I put up earlier. Theater Gym cafeteria Rec room/lounge Feel free to stop by and say hi! -Dacy

Feel free to stroll by, things look better in person. ONES-5030. Here are a couple shots of the captain's quarters. Living area with "star window". I also made a desk and a dining table I felt were more "high tech" (table not pictured). Lots here, ask if I don't cover it. Star window made with space behind glass, bounded by black colored medium banners, facing away. Stars are the very tips (inserted to different depths to give different star sizes) of Arcane Defense power crystals. Rug is a square awning from landscapes. Desk is two inverted armature bases from tech, with a glass wall in between for a work surface. Glimpse of bedroom/bathroom Bed is bed, covered with alphabet letter "i"s, tinted blue, for spread. White are "modern art frames" in wall details. Drawers are tech bookcases, bed ends are praetorian tech junctions, tech, and the lit bar above the drawers is a praetorian server connector. Arches are vault openings from structures. -Dacy

Some things I've been working on in a space ship base on Excelsior: Gym equipment: Salmon Run and Rock Wall Rock holds are rubber ducks, seen from the side, tilted up, to give a "handhold". Salmon run is two sets of two sign post 2 (cityscape) with the rungs being the top of Harbor Mooring (landscape). Bar is several baton 1 put together, doubled up to get rid of narrowed aspects. Exercise machines: Quad machine, front row. behind that, lat bar, then arm band pull, two positions, then upper body workout machine. All of these obviously, use the Praetorian Crane Hook 1, in tech, as their base. Tech chair, with mech men hips under them, doubled chemical bottle from medical and science, colored black, with a bunsen burner 2 to cover bottom gap. Batons for hand holds. Lat bar, used backs of picture 8 in wall details for seat. Two surgical light arm 3s. One punching bag mount, plus the weight lifting bar, from gym. For arm pull band machine, no seat needed. Bow for mechanism up top, empty toilet paper dispensers for hand grips. Closeup on the upper body machine Angled praetorian drone hooks for arm machinery, rest is in wall. Part of bench press 1 for seat, top of seat is 1 foot stall panel. Baton 2 for hand hold bars. Recumbent bikes Praetoria Head Support Base, from tech, is wheelhouse for pedal. Pedal is shower control, bath and kitchen, with an empty toilet roll dispenser for pedal. Surgical Light Arm 3 for hand holds, tech chair for seat, punching bag mount for bottom hardware. 2.5 pound weight to darken inside of pedal mechanism, to give depth. AE tablet for controls. Ellipse machines Angled treadmills. Police shields, inside, as front of machine next to wall. Scanner head, tech, on either side to hide space from floor. 1 ft. stall panels in white for ellipse pedals. Punching bag bar under for pedal mechanisms. -Dacy