Furc!Wank

• fURL: furc://hollowoodreserve:thecompleteferalrp
• Website: http://www.hollowoodreserve.com

I suppose since May is the month to celebrate the release of Furcadia’s official feral map, The Wylde, it might be time for F!W to dip its cloven hooves into reviewing a private feral dream as well. It was with this in mind that I wandered into Hollowood Reserve. Now, like I’ve mentioned previously I’m not particularly predisposed to feral RP, but I sure as hell don’t have anything against people who do, which seems to make me pretty rare around Furcadia. There is a lot of anti-feral sentiment out there, which to me always seemed a bit daft. Sure, you’ve got your fair share of puppy play and ‘tail-hole’ licking but there are equally stupid things that go on in two-legged anthro communities, so it’s not exactly like any of us here can get up on our high horses (if you’ll excuse the pun).

Anyway, so I took a trip to Hollowood. The dream was fairly empty when I visited, though looking back through the place’s forum posts it looks like it has seen busier days. Hollowood is definitely a continuity dream, which probably cuts back on its numbers a little, but the place definitely looks well cared for, with a wide range of custom avatars and portraits ‘in development’ (in the meantime there are some perfectly serviceable placeholders). The custom skin, too, is interesting and seems to have a slightly wider viewing angle than your run-of-the-mill Furc window. To be honest, though, I’m not sure if I think the skin ‘works’. It’s very busy; which I think is the point but I’m not sure if I like the whole way it blends in with the game window… but maybe that’s just my preference for minimalism talking. The skin also suffers from the problem of transparent buttons; it uses pixel fonts, and you have to actually click on the pixel (not on the transparent area around it) to activate the button. This makes some things a bit hard to click, which is a minor annoyance.

The dream itself is beautiful. I’m starting to get the distinct impression that I like wilderness style scenery — it makes a nice change from the miles and miles of strip clubs and private yiffing rooms, at any rate — and there are definitely some hugely beautiful visuals here, including a ridge overlooking a mountain background that just made me go all gooey inside. Like all dreams that take multiple patches, however, Hollowood does have a few niggling style clashes, especially between the greenery (which looks mostly hand-drawn) and the rocks (which look ripped from renders or photos). Some of the placement of shrubs and grasses, too, is sometimes a bit too ‘blocky’, with too many of the same object stacked next to itself. But again, these are small things and only a minor distraction. Hollowood seems huge. I’m not exactly sure whether it actually is, or whether it was just me getting lost, but unlike in indoor dreams where nothing annoys me more than thousands of useless rooms, the vastness of Hollowood very much worked in the dream’s favour; it is the wilderness, after all. I’m also fairly certain I didn’t get to see the whole place; certain areas seem to be locked off, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed a fair bit of outside scenery as well.

So visually, Hollowood is spectacular. Unfortunately, I wish I could leave it off there. Alas, the dream seems to suffer from a not insubstantial amount of bad clipping. Quite often I found myself walking over instead of under treetops, or with my head buried underneath a waterfall, or inside a rock. I wish I could honestly say that these errors as a product of the usual problems in Furcadia when dealing with large avatars however I can’t quite bring myself to believe that. Some of it is just messy. There’s also a bit of a lack of sitting and lying objects, not to mention that some things which look as if they should be walkable simply aren’t (one particular fallen log over a stream bed stands out especially). I really wish I could say these things are ‘minor’, but considering the obvious care which has been put into developing the feel of the dream (from the darkened area of the forest to the last vestiges of civilisation — represented by cut grass — outside the cyclone fence) these errors stick out glaringly and keep Hollowood from feeling truly polished.

At the end of the day, however, Hollowood Reserve is still a beautiful and lovingly-crafted dream. It’s definitely work a look; if not for the continuity then at the very least for the technical aspects… and a screenshot overlooking the mountains.

Overall Assessment

• Pros: Beautiful dreamweaving, seemingly solid continuity.
• Cons: Clipping errors prevent the dream from having a truly polished feel.

More Images

Popularity: 33% [?]

Reviews » Comment » Trackback »