A Surprising Addition to Cutthroats
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
In the recent avalanche of new virtual commodities in Home, one new arrival slipped in under the Home radar.
It wasn’t announced on the forums, the blog or even on the message of the day — it just sort of showed up, surprising many, myself included. The funny thing about it is that this new personal space is connected to one of the coolest and most talked-about games in Home: Cutthroats: Battle for Black Powder Cove.
I was scrolling through my friends list, looking at what everyone was doing, when I came to one in a space I hadn’t heard of or seen before. So I asked for an invite, and entered a scene worthy of Pirates of the Caribbean. I fully expected to see Captain Jack Sparrow weaving down the dock after a night on the town. It is called the Cutthroats Hideaway.
My first impression of the apartment was that it was more of a pirate town than a personal space. First, it is huge — there are long docks that go in a couple of directions, one past the housing area and the other down towards the boat docked nearby. There is a reason this place is so large. I was able to speak to John Ardussi of Game Mechanics, one of the original creators of the space. It was built while he still worked for Sony, and was intended to be the public space attached to the Cutthroats game itself. The house was supposed to be an area that would open up as you ranked up in the Cutthroats game — sort of a VIP space that would get larger as you played.
As you walk into the area, there is a roaring fire with seating to your right. Here you will find a very cool thing to play with: shadows. If you place yourself between the fire and wall, your shadow will get larger or smaller depending on how close you are to the fire. The shadows are very accurate ones, and we had some fun playing with them. This was built in intentionally, as an added little bonus to the space.
There are two built-in games down by the dock area: Checkers and Liar’s Dice. This definitely adds to the value of the space, which only costs $4.99. The docks are cool, with some nice piratical details, such as a scaffold to the one side with a hanging skeleton, which has a loyal parrot still sitting on its shoulder. There is quite a bit of tongue -in-cheek humor in this area. For instance, one leg of the Liar’s Dice table is made from someone’s lower leg — a warning to those who would cheat. Another dock has a swinging gate that leads you out into the ever-present fog over the water. This is where the private space ties into the public Cutthroats game area, with a direct link.
At the other end of the docks is an anchored ship you get get on, and it has a gangplank you can walk off of, if you want, though I was disappointed that the water was only hip deep. This space is a machinimist’s dream for pirate movies, and walking the plank could be a part of that too. There is a shark swimming just beyond the edge of where you can walk out in the water. It would have been even funnier if a few were swimming around the spot you land.
Walking on down the dock, you pass shops that might have been open if the space had remained public, and finally reach your house. As you walk up to it, the closed doors open automatically — a very nice touch. The house itself is three stories high, with balconies on the top two floors that overlook the outdoor areas. I like this detail, as it is cool to see the outside areas from different perspectives as you climb further up in the building.
There are chandeliers built into the ceilings of each floor, but the one thing I wish is that it was a bit more light inside the house. It is fairly dark throughout, as you can see in the pictures, and I lightened them considerably in Photoshop so you could see the details. This can be rectified with lamps, I suppose, but it might have been good to add a few more baked-in lamps to save furniture slots.
The rooms themselves are large and rectangular in shape, which lends itself to a lot of decorating strategies. The space reminds me of the Harbour Studio because of the versatility that such a simple layout allows in decorating. But, unlike the Harbour, this space is huge and will be a challenged to decorate within the furniture limits. If you already have a lot of pirate furniture, this is the perfect space for it. The music box from Cutthroats is a perfect addition to this space. You might consider turning it into a bar or inn for visiting buccaneers.
Many people may say that this space is old hat compared to many of the newer ones that have come out in Home recently, and that is true. But I think this is a very wearable old hat, because of the detail and thought evident in its design. No, you can’t fly or swim, but I don’t believe a space needs that kind of gimmick to find a place with people in Home. And this space is going to be a must-have property for Cutthroats and pirate enthusiasts. I can see a lot of pirate-themed parties springing up here. I wonder if they are going to release a matching clubhouse skin?
I think it was smart of Sony to finally release this space, even though they did so quietly, and I am sure that many will want to bring out their inner Captain Jack Sparrow as they walk the scurvy planks of Cutthroat Hideaway.
- Very nice details.
- Shadows are fun.
- It is huge!
- Built in games
- Wish it was a bit lighter inside the house.
- Water could be deeper at end of plank.
January 7th, 2013 by Burbie52 | 4 comments
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
If you own the space stand closer to the fog and invite someone, as the spawn point then becomes in the fog, amused me lol
I have been on a self imposed ban of buying any new spaces for a while, but this space looks great! Kudos to deuce_for2
I was really curious when I saw this place in the store. So when I saw a friend at her’s I quickly asked for an invite.
Good review/article. I agree with all points. I almost bought it right away but Heavy Waters lure me into Avalon Keeps with their Hexalon… It will probably be somewhere next month thou. I really liked the space.
I see this as a missed opportunity. What really would have made this space worthwhile is the ability to launch into gaming sessions on a private server, similar to the add-on for the Captain’s Quarters at Novus Prime. The only thing that really holds Cutthroats back from being a perfect Home game is the inability to control who’s on your ship in the public space. Yes, you can hope for a quiet time or try to set up a private server, but even that only works for so long.
I dearly love Cutthroats and I was hoping a private server option might be available to encourage the development of teams. Sony should really consider releasing this as a clubhouse with that private server functionality baked in. A full instance of the game can be played with a club’s members, and I believe this would greatly enhance people’s enjoyment by giving them the ability to create tournaments or team challenges.