A Figment of a Dream (Island)
by BONZO, HSM team writer and artist
Wildlife.
It’s something that humanity has disassociated itself from for millennia. At some point in history, we ceased to think of ourselves as part of nature, and rather thought of ourselves as above it. Even in country living, it is human which has dominion over animals. We even separate animals between wild, the uncontrollable, and the domesticated livestock or pets. Yet to some degree we associate luxury to sharing life with wildlife, in the ultimate fantasy of domesticating the wild out of exotic animals like lions, tigers, or even primates.
We know this to be dangerous, and risky in practical realism, but it is a fantasy. The notion is persistent: luxury living in the throes of a natural landscape, in what would somehow be a harmonious marriage of the two. It is no coincidence that vacations are taken to tropical islands, away from the urban settings we are accustomed to. The persistent fantasy getaway being a tropical retreat.
Welcome, then, to Figment’s Dream Island from Lockwood.
The Dream Yacht set a new standard of virtual luxury in Home. No opulent gilded furnishings and large empty spaces, but rather an expansive and well-designed space in the bay of a tropical escape. No other sign of civilization other than the lighthouse in sight. After all, this is a retreat, and a getaway. Ironically, since that space was introduced, the main thing we wanted was to get off it: to board that plane, those water crafts and explore the island. At the very least, to land on that beach and swim in the water. It is precisely that which makes the Dream Island so special because it reads very much like a wishlist come true.
Lockwood has a tendency to make our desires a reality.
The Dream Island is your island, your tropical escape in a setting that is somewhere between the south Pacific tropics and the planet Pandora! So what does this place offer that makes it so special, in a platform saturated by personal estates and no absence of tropical islands or real estate?
Simple: it offers everything they don’t!
Simulated waves, while not fully undulating or a real crest height or trough depth, offers the suggestion of animated breakers, so well represented you almost swear there is a real displacement of water. Long, sandy stretches of white beaches, and cascades off the large rock formations crowned in lush greenery. Palm trees speckled unobtrusively, and large boulders that seem so naturally placed you’d take up geology just to study their formations. The views are magnificent, and set a standard of environmental aesthetics we haven’t seen in Home thus far. It isn’t just a pretty backdrop, or a plain image; this is a fully-modeled space, and that’s what makes it so stunning. Those islands in the distance off shore aren’t flat cutouts, but modeled structures which grow the rest of the island perceptually.
Beyond the visual effect though, this place is interactive. The Mui Mui Island was a very cartoon-like space, but its beach and the Tropical Getaway space didn’t allow you in the water. The Dream Island not only changes that, but finally offers a space that integrates an avatar emote with its surroundings — not just letting you walk along the sea floor, but actually swim in the sea.
One of the key elements which made the LOOT Sunset Yacht so special and so memorable was the unlockable wild life. The dolphins, sharks, pelicans and especially the whale. Even then, the first thing you wanted to do was get out in the water with it. The Dream Island introduces an abundance of wild life, not just to view in the distance as it flies by, but around you in the places you actually occupy. Iguanas, geckos, an abundance of fish to feed off a dock, and even dolphins to swim along with.
Further still, aside from the landscape, the views, and the wildlife, a huge modern-styled building occupies this place. The architecture is phenomenal, and on a level above and beyond the architecture which has been introduced to the Home estate library. The building isn’t some random boxy space set in the middle of nowhere with some bushes added for landscaping; a lot of attention was put to the details which went into incorporating the natural setting with the artificial architecture to merge the two and make them harmonize, so much so that they wouldn’t have the same impact independently of each other.
Does the building get lost in the lush beauty of the environment? No, and neither does it stand out like it doesn’t belong in the setting. You set that building against another background, and suddenly it takes all the focus. You set it on this island, and it becomes the shelter and representation of the modern world, while you focus on the environment which makes you forget whatever municipality you find yourself in. It doesn’t deviate from the beauty of the space, and the space doesn’t exist independently of the building. That is a tremendously difficult balance to achieve.
Despite having the sea water to swim in, an interior pool is also available in the space, also equipped with the swim emote. Rather than a beach to decorate, you have two levels of the building.
Beyond what you see, and sense perceptually, the sound design is fitting and the space would be incomplete devoid of it. Water is something we perceive visually and aurally even before we touch it. There is a constant motion in the viscosity of water, and the waves aren’t just represented in the motion of the particles of water, but in the air they displace in sound waves, and lacking any appropriate water sounds is like biting into cake without the sense of taste.
Virtual settings have only two of our senses to stimulate, so far, but they are very important senses that have the power to fool the rest to a degree. How developers chose to stimulate them can dramatically change the experience of the user in that space. The Dream Island is huge, and offers so much perceptually that it sets the bar to a new height when it comes to personal spaces in Home; while personal spaces are in abundance, there is nothing quite like this.
And there you have it. Thanks to Blueprint and nDreams for pushing the envelope and making other companies in Home that make estates try harder. Sayin’ that it’s not like Lockwood ever put out low quality stuff, high quality is kinda expected from them.
This looks like a beautiful space, and I’m gonna have a tough time not giving into it right away. Problem is, Granzella’s beach is looking equally amazing! So now my wallet is fighting off the urges from the “come here eyes” it’s getting from Blueprint, Granzella, Avalon and now this! Not to mention Mercia might ask me for money!
When it rains it really pours eh!
With all of the new content coming into Home at such a fast pace lately it is going to be very hard to decide where to spend money for sure. If you are on a budget for these things it is going to be exceptionally hard. Leave it to Lockwood to add to our dilemma. Oh well maybe I can squeak out something extra.
Nice read Bonzo
Great article Bonzo,
That’s a beautiful space Lockwood has created for Home; your article does it justice.
Just had a look at the open house for this place and I should point out that I’m not usually one for impulse buying but SCREWIT! This place is gorgeous! And now I own it : )
I’m not normally one to criticize Lockwood, but I’m passing on this space, at least for now. Yes, it’s gorgeous from the first moment you enter, and if you love the modern look of the space, you probably won’t regret buying it. But it does have some of the common Lockwood personal space qualities, and this is where they lose me a bit. Much of this is probably a matter of aesthetics and taste, but these are things worth investigating before you buy.
1. The Size: It’s massive. Dream Yacht massive. Silicon Lounge massive. There’s rooms and beach everywhere, and a 100 item limit. Great if you like minimalism, challenging if you like cozy.
2. The navigation. My single biggest criticism of the Dream Yacht is how long it takes to walk around the space. A similar issue exists here. Users are spawned into the top level of the house, and there’s only one staircase that will take you to the lower level, where you may need to navigate some additional rooms to get to the part of beach that you want. Telepads will help you get around, but there goes some of that item limit. This space really needs more staircases connecting the upper and lower levels.
3. That boat near the beach. Why is there something sitting there that I cannot access? At least let me climb up on the thing and sit in the chairs.
4. The unlocking requirement. Though it’s not an issue for me personally, the need to have 11 friends in the space at once is excessive. What happens to users who don’t have that number of friends? I believe that was a cumulative goal for the Loot Sunset Yacht (correct me if I’m wrong about that). Four or five friends, cool. 11 friends? Too much, unless it’s a cumulative goal and not a one-time goal.
5. The mood. This gets incredibly subjective for me, and I’d imagine some others. I’ll start by saying that graphically, Lockwood and Granzella run circles around every other developer in Home. There’s a realness to Lockwood spaces and a terrific amount of detail. Take a look at the plant life beneath the waves at Dream Island, and you can’t help but be impressed.
In terms of the setting, however, it looks more like Scaramanga’s South China island base than a tropical paradise. Both IREM Beach and MuiMui Island offered a warm, bright color palette with vibrant blue seas and hot sand, the sort of place that thoughts of the tropics bring to mind. As someone who already owns Blaster’s Paradise and the Dream Yacht, I’m looking for something brighter and warmer in a beach space, yet this space fits into the same aesthetic as Lockwood’s previous island spaces.
Those who are looking for a beach may want to wait for Granzella’s Glittering Beach to arrive in North America. While Dream Island has more space and more functionality, those who want a cozy, warm-looking beach and clear waters for swimming may find that it suits their needs a bit better.
HIW I respect your opinion, but in defense of the space, the size issue is something that is recurring with most spaces now, there is a push for big, and when it comes to a beach it needs to be big, a little patch of sand wouldn’t cut it. Particularly with a personal space, you normally only hang out in one area anyway. walking from one end to another, unless you’re going to run laps isn’t really a big deal.
I agree on the boat, i wish i could board it, that would be a nice touch.
Unlocking elements, you offer up a tour and you can really get plenty of people there, but I agree the space capacity requirement is excessive.
The Mood, I’m not sure how bright you are talking about, because the space is very bright. One of the things that struck me the most about the space was the lighting in particular. Especially in how the lighting wraps around your avatar, there is a lot of bounced light in here that ads to the ambiance. Even the cave is bright. I love the option of sitting on sand, sitting on a wooden dock or a big boulder, and even having the option to just wade in water has been a nice change.
To me, lighting in Home is always an iffy thing. I’m always reaching for my gamma correction, this space ( on my work telly) needs to dit a notch below the half way mark for my eyes to be happy. But at home ( I mean my house heh) I have it at exactly half, the default. But then, you still cant beat the contrast ratio of a plasma. Anyways, I will say that Wow has a point, it is very difficult to make it feel like a proper house and still have room for oddities in hidden places, a little silly habit of mine. But, it can be done.
Last point ( or question) here is; you need 11 people to unlock what exactly? Coz the only thing I’m missing ( thanks to Burbie who helped me and some friends out) is the lilo. Surely that’s a lot of effort for a lilo!?
I could live with the size if the navigation was a bit better. One staircase connecting the house to the beach simply isn’t enough.
Consider two other recent huge spaces in Home. Konami’s cathedral offers at least two ways to get from any point to any other point. The Loot Space Station is built around a central staircase, and if that isn’t fast enough, there’s a built-in teleport system.
Teleports aren’t practical in a real-world space, but extra staircases are. The less time I spend running past empty or underfurnished rooms, the happier I tend to be with a space.
While I am looking forward to what Granzella has to offer, I personally think this Lockwood space knocks it out of the park!
Incredibly beautiful! The soundscape is perfect. The detail just keeps on giving. Hopefully one day the item count will increase, but even still just as is. This place is amazing!
I could feel it when I entered it, and that is the point! Congrats Lockwood.