The Sodium Blimp Has Landed!
by KrazyFace, HSM team writer
The Sodium Universe from Lockwood is a fairly extensive one; one of the bigger spaces of Home in fact that spans (now) six spaces wide.
There’s the original Sodium Hub that serves as an introduction to the Sodium world, where you’ll find the always charming Vickie – an A.I in a robotic feminine body. She will be your guide and constant to everything you do in the Sodium Universe, from trading you credits for raw materials found in other spaces, to selling you exclusive furniture and clothing items only obtainable via her catalog with Sodium credits.
There’s S1 Shooter, where Sodium pilots strive for fortunes against the odds in massive battles on the salt flats in their hovering tank of laser-doom, and S2 Project Velocity, where pilots will push for the quickest times against themselves and others on the blistering speed tracks. Here you’ll find a fairly deep racer with a wide array of adaptable engineering parts in the garage section that will affect your racing prowess dramatically.
Then we have the middle-ground with the Blaster’s Paradise personal space, where you can relax with friends in an exotic location, or fight for top-spot on the scoreboard with its built-in tabletop mini S1 Shooter game. The polar end sees the Sodium Lounge, set far out in the desert where pure relaxation is the rule, and now finally we have the brand new Sodium Blimp space, a space that is itself a game!
When you first set foot on the Sodium Blimp, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just another space much like the Nebula Air Ship is, where the moving ground beneath is nothing more than pixel trickery. But you’d be wrong. Very wrong.
The whole apartment itself can actually be flown around the infinite desert that surrounds it; you can rise and fall and steer it around quickly or slowly till your heart’s content. But Lockwood didn’t just stop there, they’ve cleverly made the space an enticing place for Sodium players to gain more credits, rewards and items not just for use in the space itself, but other parts of Sodium, too.
Think of it like a really big treasure hunt. When you take the helm of the Blimp controls, you’ll get a compass display in the bottom right of the screen. This will display red markers indicating the position of buried goodies. After piloting your Blimp towards them, you’ll then use the built-in teleporter to descend to the desert’s surface. A large mechanism known as a “thumper” can then be deployed from the Blimp down to you on the surface; this acts as a sort of seismic locator that when fired off will point you in the direction of the buried treasure. Using three (or more) of the thumpers you can then triangulate the position of the hidden goodies and either yourself or a friend can then use the Dig Spot Locator binoculars from up-high to pinpoint the exact location where you think treasure may be. Those on the surface will then be able to dig in that spot, unearthing all manner of Sodium related items, from a haul of gold, silicone or silver, to spare booster rockets for your S2 racer. This is also how you’ll find the thirteen extra exclusive rewards only obtainable via this personal space.
Although the desert itself is fairly sparse (as you might imagine a desert to be), there are little oasis pockets of geysers, cacti, power windmills, and rock formations that break up the flats and give you a sense of direction and speed. The flowing wind too can be seen in the furling flag-strips that descend from the Blimp as well as the softly chewed cloud that’s sucked through the turbine engines. So while it’s a fairly empty looking space, what’s there is more than enough to give you that sense of movement and motion. The incentive here however for those invested in the Sodium world is rather great too. Show me a Sodium Pilot who doesn’t want more credits or raw resources, and I’ll show you a Homeling with a small head!
This then is a very welcome addition to the world of Sodium, not only as an extra way to gain goodies but as a new personal space that’s much more than just a pretty box. Have yourself your own Barron Munchausen adventures or use it to work tirelessly toward unlimited unknown treasures, either way, it’s a place both you and your friends can relax or prosper all while working together as a team.
August 29th, 2013 by KrazyFace | 3 comments
KrazyFace has been a gamer for longer than he can remember. In fact its been so long he's pretty sure he started gaming with rocks and sticks in a cave someplace off the coast of Africa, when it was joined on to France. However long its been, he's got enough experience behind him to know a good game when he sees one. He's also a bit of a Home addict, you'll find him in there whenever he's got spare time - or not playing a game.
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this has almost convinced me to get back onto Home. Almost.
I am so happy Lockwood got back into the Sodium world. I have always felt it was their best asset. This space looks great and I am liking the trend of spaces that have to do something more than just be a pretty box.
Great read Krazy
I was a bit baffle when I saw the Sodium Icon in the X7 store!!
It was a very good surprise indeed to see the sodium univer was not left to die. I agree with you Krazy. It’s probably LKWD best assets.
It was really nice to see the Sodium Hub buzzing with people, Vicky doing her best to accomomodate multiple users at once.
If Xi was the high water mark event. Sodium universe deserve that title for the long term franchise.
Good read, as always KF.