Node type identity shown in each node stage (Stage 3 and above) Lay-out?
Normally I would discus these kind of things during the Office Hours, but I though this subject might be better of here.
After looking at the forum post of Dream Nodes and the upcoming Office Hours which also included Dream Nodes, it put my mind into thinking about node type identity. You see, if you look around the world, there are plenty of ways how cities and villages are build; Some are build with structure and organized like plaes in the Netherlands, whereas other places are build around their starting point (mostly around the coast) like Rio de Janeiro, but there are also places that are build around or based by their environment like mountains (Massuleh) and ocean (Bajau tribes) or build inside their environment itself (Maijishan Grotto’s). Now taking that into consideration, you can see that most places are build based on their environment, their knowledge/tools and what they're designed for. This concept is also something that I would love to see in Ashes of Creations design when it comes down to make their node stages and therefore creates an identity to each location based on location, race (biggest contributor) and Node Type.
So how would I see each Node type effect the lay-out of each node?
- Academic Node: Academic nodes are structured and organized as their design is all build around knowledge. These locations will have a structured lay-outs with their Academic in the center or strategic location (like a mountain top) and other buildings/services are strategically placed and grouped up. These kind of places can also feel very compact because of this design, sometimes leaving plenty of room for expanding or other less important buildings filling the gaps.
- Military Node: Similar to the Academic Node, they're structured but is less organized. Their structural lay-out is designed for defensive purposes, placing their important buildings in the center or strategic locations. Besides of that, their walls/defenses are very structured and many places are build around small corridors in case they have to protect the village/city. Other buildings will have less priority and are usually used to fill in the gaps or part of their defensive structural design. This can leave those buildings be less structured and organized as their main buildings.
- Economic Node: Obviously their market and service buildings are the center of their economy. They're build in the center of the node with roads directly leading to the exits of the town, preferably as part of an important road/trade route. The rest of the buildings are build around this central hub and doesn't always have proper structure or organization This place can also feel quite compact as everything wants to be as close to the center point.
- Divine Nodes: When I think of divine nodes, I'm thinking of locations that uses their environment as part of their blueprint. They'll build in or around their environment with the least amount of impact on. Think of like elven cities build around waterfalls or dwarf cities carved into mountains. In the end, their location is more part of the environment rather than being an entity within their environment
You should also see this effect when they're expanding to a higher Node Stage (Village>Town, Town>City, City>Metropolis) which are an attachment to the already existing location. This would lead to the following points:
- Academic Node: Could only expand towards one or two sides as it makes more sense rather than expanding outwards all around.
- Military node: Could expand all around or only at certain sides based on the location. It can also add new walls, creating an inner and outer wall. Also, some buildings might move to the outskirts of this expansion rather than staying on their current location as they're crucial for defensive purposes.
- Economic node: Would expand all around with markets and service buildings along the roads leading to the center.
- Divine node: Would expand all around and uses the natural environment as part of the blueprint for the added structures.
Based on what we've seen during this months live stream, it didn't felt like an Academic Node to me. Even though it definitely felt both structured and organized, I did feel like it wasn't always compact enough, with too much open spaces to feel like a real Academic Node. Things like parks or open areas to sit/walk to fill the gaps would look more like an academic node thing than leaving plenty of open spaces. Now it could be because this is just a village stage, giving it less of an identity towards their Node type, I still hope to see the node types to be noticeable even at the village stage.
So what do you think? Do you think I'm right or am I missing something? Are there things you like to add or believe I'm wrong about? Please let me know as I would like to hear your point of view of this
