Aurora Apartment of Champions
by SealWyf, HSM team writer
Aurora Level 100!
I thought I would never get there. Almost every night since the Aurora public space appeared in March, 2011, I had obsessively chased Orbs across energy islands and shot down evil invaders. I compared the number on my back with those around me, then chased more Orbs to improve my score and eke out a few more experience points. And I bought all the upgrades — the Neon Goggles, the improved cannon coolant and ammunition, the point-boosting Auroralite Hoody. As my skills slowly improved, I was able to earn closer to the daily maximum experience points.
The levels slowly ticked by, and the rewards grew better. I was delighted with the animated dance floor I received at Level 85. Level 90 was a disappointment — a collection of ornaments and models that just cluttered up my Storage closet. When I hit Level 95, its prize had not yet been issued. But I knew it was coming. I kept chasing and shooting, shooting and chasing. I resented any real-life activity that kept me away from Aurora for one precious evening. The 10,000 XP bonus awarded in November boosted me to Level 98. I was toiling through Level 99 when the Level 100 ceiling shattered and new rewards appeared.
Then it was just a matter of perseverance. On the final night, I had only 300 points to go. I dragged a friend along to help me celebrate after I chased those final Orbs. As I crashed through the barrier, the Blue Voice of God announced that I had received a new item. And there it was on my Navigator — the Aurora Champion Apartment! I waited impatiently as the space downloaded. The world faded away, and then refocused. And I saw my new space for the first time.
For those of you who have not yet reached Level 100, let me assure you — this is totally worth it. I would have purchased this space without hesitation. It’s three small islands joined by bridges, floating in the Aurora void. It’s night out there, cold and misty. A full moon looms, its face strangely altered. Other islands bob in the distance. You’ll recognize them if you’ve spent any time in Aurora: the tentacled “octopus island”, the giant fist holding a balloon, the lighthouse, its beam cutting the darkness. The three habitable islands may be compact, but the space feels immense.
Each of the three islands has its own mood and personality, and its own evocative details. And this is a very detailed space. It doesn’t feel slapped together. One senses the spirit of the programmers behind it — their craft, their sense of play, their love for the universe they have created.
The first island you see is a city park — a lawn with benches, antique street lamps, a picnic blanket, and a single enormous tree. Strings of Christmas lights add a touch of carnival color The lamps cast circles of light on the mushroom-spangled grass. The sound-pattern is a simple but elegant track of chirping crickets, which reinforces our sense of place and time: it’s night, outdoors, peaceful and mysterious. There’s also a handy commerce point, disguised as a coffee-vendor’s cart. One has come to expect these in private spaces. After all, monetization is what drives Home. And it’s not obtrusive.
For lovers of detail, there’s a nice little “Easter egg” in the form of insects bobbing in the lamplight. Place your camera low, so you can get a better look. You’ll find these are not random splotches; they are detailed portraits of particular creatures. There are fluttering yellow butterflies, which resemble Anthocharis cardimines, a species the English nDreams developers would know well. And there is at least one beautifully detailed honeybee — the same bee that once graced the planted areas of the now-vanished Central Plaza. I suspect the developers loved those bees as much as I did.
Move toward the bridge on the left, and a new element enters the sound-pattern: the moan of a distant fog-horn. This seems to be coming from the light-house island, which floats just beyond the next section of the space — the island I have named the Midnight Beach. It’s small but wonderfully evocative. A pond (or a scrap of ocean) pours over the edge in an eternal waterfall. Four palm trees ring a patch of sand dominated by a huge sand castle. Two built-in canvas beach chairs and a blanket provide seating around a campfire.
The crickets are still audible, but the fog-horn dominates the sound-pattern here. You feel the chill of the night, and move closer to the fire, which adds a cosy crackling element to the sound-scape. Guests in this space spontaneously start telling ghost stories. The beach feels isolated, yet the rest of the space is clearly visible. You can look back along one bridge to the quiet park, or ahead, to the third, largest island, where lights and colors beckon.
The third island is an enormous animated dance floor. It’s surrounded by posts wrapped with Christmas lights. But, frankly, you hardly notice them — the floor itself is a visual stunner. It’s the expanding-circle pattern from the dance floor in the public Aurora space, a constant dizzying cascade of shapes and colors. Just add music, and you have the ultimate dance-party space, surrounded by a vast night sky that demands to be filled with fireworks.
Which brings me to the topic of decorating strategies. I tried adding a few items, such as bottles of champagne on the seating blankets. But in the end, I put them away and concentrated on music and pyrotechnics. One Brimstone Dancer in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by the matching animated tiles, is all you need. The rest of the space is fully furnished. There’s not much you can do to improve it.
Use the rest of your object slots for fireworks. You really can’t have too many. That night sky is cold, and you need pyrotechnics to shield the dance floor from the Lovecraftian terror of the outer reaches, where eldritch islands hover under the face of the cryptic moon. And the fireworks look great from the beach.
Final tally: I give this space full marks for atmosphere and detail. There are no picture frame spots — always a minus in my book. On the plus side, there are three conveniently-placed furniture spawn points. I find the animation of the dance floor annoyingly garish, and would have preferred something more subtle. An owner-selectable palette of animations would have been ideal, if it could have been managed. However, my visitors all seem to love it.
But the biggest plus, to my mind, is that fact that this is not a purchased space — it’s a reward for long-term, dedicated game-play. Home developers should definitely take note: put a prize like this on the board, and you will get a lot of obsessed players. They will buy all the game upgrades, and do whatever it takes to join the small and exclusive club of space-owners. And their friends will see it, and they’ll start working to get their own. As mine have.
Bottom line: this is so much better than a tee-shirt!
- Beautiful, detailed, evocative design
- Three distinct moods in separate areas
- Ties into the Aurora aesthetic and implied back-story
- A wonderful reward for dedicated gamers
- The animated dance floor is garish compared to the rest of the space
- Can be hard to furnish
- No picture-frame spots
January 24th, 2012 by SealWyf_ | 9 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer, who has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is obsessed with creating new aesthetic experiences in PlayStation Home.
Great review Seal! I saw this space the day it came out as my friend Benny had reached 100 a long time back and he received it immediately. I agree it is a very interesting space and I am glad that NDreams has taken the lead in giving people ample rewards for their hard work and time. Kudos to you and all of the other orb chasers out there who have accomplished this feat.
Had a chance to see this apartment thanks to Seal, and I agree with her assessment of it. It’s sort of a Midnight Glade interpreted by Baron von Munchausen.
Getting people to come back to the same attraction over and over for weeks and months on end is no easy feat in Home. nDreams has shown, first with Xi and then Aurora, that they figured out the formula. The Champion Apartment take a lot of time investment to earn, but it’s well worth it for those who take the journey.
i m level 96; i havent buy all the upgrade and chase the orbs & aurora defense are the first é things i do when i come to home!^^
i can’t wait to reach 100; but im little afraid to be bored after i finish this amazing quest…
whatever, very thanks to N’dream for this space & game!
I love my level 100 place as well. It’s an excelent companion space for the purchaseable Aurora space, and snuggles perfectly into the world that nDreams has created. My only 2 cons are the lack of picture frames (like Seal, I’m a wall hanging fanatic) and the dance floor -- while I like the array of colors (which, I agree, are a tad ‘loud’) I would really have liked a carbon copy of the effects from the dance floor in the main Aurora space.
Great review, Seal. You hit the nail on the head.
Got mine too….
Great review on the space. I’m happy I got mine too! I love the dance floor and I can see it being great for a small party with a few close friends. Yes, too bad there isn’t any place to put up picture frames. I must say that many of the rewards for the Aurora game have been great and to get a free personal space at the end is awesome! ^__^
Nicely done Seal. Thanks again for the tour you gave me. It is a nice space that I will totally get… somday. hehe
If they’d only slow that dance floor animation down a bit, this space would be perfect. It runs a bit faster than the one in the public space, and that contributes to the apparent garishness.
This space and the Lockwood fireworks were practically made for each other. I don’t regret a single dime I spent on Orb Runner or the Island personal space. The rewards were more than worth it.