Main Map: The Wylde
by the skullkitty (24th May, 2007 @ 9:17 am)- fURL: furc://thewild
- Website: http://www.furcadia.com/wylde/
I have to admit, I was not one of those people who was especially looking forward to the release of Furcadia’s official ‘feral’ home; the Wylde. I don’t dislike ferals, but the whole thing’s just not really my bag (unless there’s anyone out there with a good cyberpunk feral RP). Nevertheless, I figured F!W could do worse than a bit of blatant cashing in on this new zone, so in the spirit of things I decided to write up a review. So I zoned in.
From the first time the screen loaded, I knew I was in for something other than the usual Furcadian main-map scenery. Now, I’m not going to make any secret of the fact that I don’t particularly like the default Furc patches. There’s something about the dithered art style that really doesn’t do it for me, and makes the whole game look extremely dated. Yeah sure, the palette is only 8-bit but… so what? Until very recently, so were most games for handhelds and oldbies like me can even remember the days when all computer games were 8-bit. Within Furc itself, the innumerable number of highly-talented patchers (and even fairly mediocre patchers like yours truly) have shown us time and time again that you can do a lot with a little. Of course, the talent rattling around in the player base only served to highlight even more starkly how… lacking the main maps were.
And then the Wylde came.
Most of you are going to recognise at least some of the scenery that appears in the Wylde; like with the Kitterwing and Ferian avatars, DEP got the community involved in creating the visuals1 and it shows. The Wylde is beautiful in a way that no other main map is. Divided into thirteen ‘biomes’ — from oceans and beaches to a farm to a desert — the Wylde oozes artistic competence, and you’ll have to excuse me for saying but it finally feels as if Furc has come into its own aesthetically. The other thing that’s immediately obvious is the lack of dream upload pads. Or not the lack, exactly (since this is an upload map and all), but rather the clever way they’ve been integrated into the scenery; they’re bolt holes and tussocks and hollow logs and stable doors.
I wish I could be so enthusiastic about the rest of the DS. Each biome is bordered by glittering yellow lines which mark the map transition to the next area. Except… if you’re actually going to have a map transition — and to be honest I’m not sure why the Wylde does, since the majority of its biomes seem to flow into one another — this is probably the absolute worst way of doing it. Transitioning from one biome to another doesn’t take you to the ‘other side’ of the exit as with just about every other computer game in existence, but rather to a fixed point in the centre of that biome. If this sounds like it would be disorientating, let me assure you that it’s much worse when you’re actually there. It’s the kind of poor DS that I’d be ripping into a private dream for having, and the Wylde loses major kudos for it.
That minor niggle aside, I have to say I love the Wylde. I still don’t think I’ll be doing much feral RP any time soon, but something in me gets all warm and fuzzy inside to think that — in this day of increasingly complex 3D-graphics — such a beautiful place has been created from such such limited tools.
Overall Assessment
- Pros: It’s beautiful.
- Cons: Some of the DS is not just oddly redundant but downright confusing.
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Popularity: 28% [?]
- The cynic in me has to wonder a bit whether or not they were compensated for their work; DEP is a company, after all… [↩]
“The cynic in me has to wonder a bit whether or not they were compensated for their work; DEP is a company, after all…”
If you’re talking about the players who helped make the Wylde, I know at least I was. Emerald Flame paid me out of her own pocket to make at least half of the patchwork. And it was a time when I really needed the money to boot! I can’t speak for everyone, but I feel DEP’s been fair to me on all levels.
By the way, this is a great site. Well-written reviews and a really nice layout. Lookin’ forward to seeing more!
Ah! Much kudos to DEP then. I suppose there’s always a very fine line in these online communities that allow player content between, well, allowing player content and profiting off the hard work of other people.
And thank you. ^^”