March 5, 2012
Well, as I posted a little while ago, with the closure of NovaGrid, I've joined Kitely. And that means a massive rebuild. If you've been reading this site, you will know that Excelsior Station is a 16 SRE sim using AuroraSim for the server'ware. You will also likely know that Kitely has only single regions with no joining. In other words, no megaregions. Talk about a challenge, rebuild a single sim the size of 16 regions to a set of individual regions with no linking between them. And to do so with the knowledge that two things will be happening in the future; megaregions and inter-region teleporting.
Now, that might seem a pretty daunting task and a completely different direction in the plans I have for Excelsior Station. Or so it would seem. In the past I posted about my idea of getting a number of sim owners to connect and create a group of RP/combat virtual worlds. We would travel to each others grids using HG, engage in battles, duels, gladiatorial contests, trade, diplomacy and more, as well as all the attendant role playing that is necessary to flesh everything out. Big project, that. Heck of a goal.
So, how to keep those goals while working with unconnected regions on a single grid? Well, its just a matter of perspective. Old plan, I build a virtual world and call out for others to join in the fun. New plan, build a group of regions as the seed for such a group. Or federation, if you will. Kitely is pretty much perfect for testing this idea. Inexpensive, allowed to use OARs and everything else you might want in your own grid.
And so we witness the birth of the Excelsior Station Federation.
The basic premise is that each world is the result of some form of cosmic event that created a partial copy of a place in other dimensions. Law has broken down. Shock and madness have led to suicides and murder. People arm themselves with whatever they can find. Yet, there are some few who have risen to the challenge of being ripped from their worlds and dropped in this alternate reality. Some see this as an opportunity to elevate themselves to positions of power in this new existence, imposing their will upon those around them. Others fight to restore law and justice, to build a new civilization that abides by a fair and just way of life. And all sorts in between. Over time, a few of those lost worlds have joined to form a loosely-knit federation, inviting others join them. Some will, others will only be allies and still others will maintain their independence.
Currently, only Excelsior Station Federation HQ (ESFHQ) is on Kitely, but I also have a post-apocalypse urban area, a Lycan forest, a Vampire realm and an Elven/Fae world. Full creds to Linda Kellie whose OARs I have used and minorly modded for my own use. Future plans include a water world, two that will have one or more sky platforms, one bing futuristic in look and feel while the other will be steam-punk. Also, a starshipyard, wrecked starship, and an orbital station. I'm currently working on a multiple level city, from sewers to highest towers (think Blade Runner).
There are some things, though, that have to be common to all worlds in the Federation, whether those worlds are mine or belong to other people. A common set of guidelines for all to use. One being the use of the Myriad-ESF RP/Combat System, or MESF, which is based on the Myriad Lite RPG System edited for use in the ESF project. A copy is available for free at ESF HQ. I have considered setting out freebies of clothing and shapes and all, but there is already a ton on Kitely. (Linda, your stuff is really getting around *grins*) Over time, I will be adding some free weapons and armour and things, and hope that others will, too. I will also be setting up script kits so people can make their own things. Fair warning, I've modded the scripts to work within Kitely and as part of the ESF, so they are no mod. Copy and trans is fine, but there needs to be consistency with the goods. After all, its not much fun to kit yourself out with all the legit things only to have some jerk come along with a Dagger of MegaKill doing you in with one hit.
I have also decided to create a separate website for the Excelsior Station Federation, using Google sites ( https://sites.google.com/site/excelsiorstationfederation/ ). Seems like to good an opportunity to test out Google Sites. Its only a blank template at the moment, but that will cahnge. Also, there will be at least 3 types of world memberships, Federation Member, Allied World and Independent World. As for people, well, for now, there’s just Federation Citizen. As other people join their worlds in, they will be setting up their own memberships, which I will incorporate into the Federation setup. I will also be keeping up this site, though for metaverse issues and thoughts unrelated to the ESF. I hope to expand my writings here, too, to include other issues that I find interesting.
And so, with that, I will bid you adieu and hope to see you in the Excelsior Station Federation.
Commander-in-Chief,
Excelsior Station Federation,
The Pompous Bastid Hisself,
Sarge Misfit
Now, that might seem a pretty daunting task and a completely different direction in the plans I have for Excelsior Station. Or so it would seem. In the past I posted about my idea of getting a number of sim owners to connect and create a group of RP/combat virtual worlds. We would travel to each others grids using HG, engage in battles, duels, gladiatorial contests, trade, diplomacy and more, as well as all the attendant role playing that is necessary to flesh everything out. Big project, that. Heck of a goal.
I'm soooo in. So in.
We'll either end up on a first name basis or it'll turn into a game of Where's Sarge while you dodge me through the metaverse!
For the record, Hostgator is a great option for your websites, and it's way cheap and you can whip up specific world sites (I'll even help if you help me with my boats, sharks and zombies! hah) and a main hub. I decided to go that route once and for all when I settled on Kitely. I was about to use VC site to just talk about my vw projects but went ahead and spent the 15 bucks for the domains for a handful of vw projects, so now each one is an independent entity with room for expansion (yay platinum 100 world plan!) and I'm not overwhelmed - I can focus on one at a time like a normal person and use the site for its marketing and access point. When Kitely opens up the internal tp and hq, then that'll make it easier to get to more of the world. Nobody has to know they're not "right beside" each other in a grid, just the teleport/HG option will zap them to the other one. One thing I do hope they turn on is that teleport agent thing so we can zap them somewhere specific without getting permission. That'll make the combat/death/health refill stations play much better.
I know you just moved in, but I offer you a heartfelt and excited welcome and hello, and if there's anything I can do PLEASE don't hesitate to ask. I love what you're wanting to do enough to help make sure you do it ;-p
Did Ener ever come to Kitely? I hope she does. ;-)
Thanks for the welcome
I'm still figuring out how to do all this, but you are welcome to setup a world, or worlds, to join in. I'm thinking 3 types of 'membership', Federation Member World, Allied World and Independent. An Independent world could be friendly, neutral or antagonistic to the Federation. And there's no application, you'd simply declare which sort of world it is. Hmmmm …. could this be the birth of the Serenity Empire??
And Ener's not said anything one way or the other, so I've no idea if she's joined yet.
can i be an Excelsior Station minion please? i'd actually like that quite a bit =)
i'm silly like that but very sentimental too =)
Well, I still need to set up inworld groups but why not?
No groups in Kitely yet
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