The Old New Babbage

[Rip Wirefly]

I’m not here to harp or complain, or anything of that sort, just bring something to everyone’s attention. Last night Greg Merryman led me into the beta grid and I was shown something quite amazing. New Babbage Square and Palisades, from around one year ago. The land was the same, as was the layout, but the builds were quite different then what is in babbage today.

The first thing that hit me when I teleported in, dirt, the place was far from clean, as an industrial place should be. I looked about, a few of the builds that are still here today were there as well, the Mason Horta hotel, the steam works, city hall, the Paleozoic Museum, though it was far larger than it is today. What struck me was not that those structures still exist today, but the ones around them that are not. So much industry, smoke was seen across the skyline, as should be in an industrial city. As well, the builds, they were not all the most detailed or well built, but what they all had going for them was that they all fit together. Builds did not look like they were different from the one next door, they went together, they fit. It did not look like a bunch of puzzle pieces from different puzzles thrown together. The stores were gritty, the atmosphere just felt like the air was dirty, the city appeared as if it was covered in a layer of dirt, and I loved it.

I am still relativly new here, in my opinion. When I came to babbage it was a completely different monster, the place was clean. Houses were everywhere, though there are no problems with homes in a city, but as well there were so many stores, and each one was pristine. The few factories remaining looked as if they were not in order. It was a different babbage then what I saw it had been. I think somewhere people stopped focusing on the concept of babbage and more on the commercial part of it. I am not saying we ban stores, and cafes, and houses, and bars, but instead attempt to try to recapture the essence of babbae. Learn what your sim’s purpose was, talk to the residents who have been around longer, and find out what babbage is really about. I have been chatting with some older residence as of late, and have been learning much more about what babbage is about.

There is a reason industria is in our motto.

[Jimmy Branagh]

(("Yes! Yes!", said Jimmy's typist. I've always thought a hybrid between the designs of Lynch's "Dune" and Albert Hughes' "From Hell" would suit Babbage well. Prim limits are so unfortunate.))

[Sir ArthurConan Doyle]

I greatly admired the second Town Hall in New Babbage — the one with a translucent floor. It may or may not have been "steampunk", but it was highly functional. Every seat provided an excellent view of the speaker, and, with a bit of camera control, an excellent view of everyone in the audience. I was particularly impressed with a design that allowed late-comers to be seated without distracting the other attendees. I do not know who owns that building, but that person might want to consider selling a no-copy, mod, no-transfer version of the building as a prefab. I think it would stand up to the application of a variety of textures from Gothic to Jetsons. I would be grateful to be the first customer.

[Anabella Voom]

not to belabor the point, but i too was an admirer of that build...to my mind it seemed very much a public building, and for pure functionality it was hard to beat....

of the three times i've attended/tried to go to a Town Hall meeting in the new Town Hall: once i gave up entirely after trying to get in [lag problems], once i floated outside the chamber and listened [easiest solution], and the third time i was offered a teleport just as i started to walk away........

i actually have no problem with the present build except it's lack of functionality..

[Kyle Oller]

LOL

[Ghilayne Andrew]

My only objection to the current Town Hall is the flying up the ventilation shaft... I spent several minutes looking for a non-magical/super-powers way of to get around because flying breaks my sense of rp reality. Oddly, teleporting doesn't. ::grins::

[Grendel Footman]

my objection to flying up airshafts is more the fact, when i'm a little laggy, I either zoom straight up and through the ceiling, or bounce off the sides of the shaft and can never get out

[Kyle Oller]

Here, here!

I volunteered to put in a temporary shaft sos people could see the awesome map but got vetoed :(

[Ceejay Writer]

Just to confuse the issue more (which I really don't mean to do, honestly!), to me, Steampunk is very eclectic. There's no 'one' style. If a build gives off an aura of being Victorian-Tech-Eccentric-Etc., to me, it's Steampunk. It's whatever a person living in a perceived Steampunk reality would feel comfortable with.

[Edward Pearse, Duke of Argylle]

I'm not the first person to make the observation but it has been noted that in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine after his battle with the Morlocks the Time Traveller does not stumble into the dining room ragged and gasping for breath as he does in the movie, instead he takes the time to go upstairs and dress properly for dinner thankyouverymuch :-)

[Ceejay Writer]

Wow. I'm mentally replaying that scene in my mind here... you're right! That's a great detail!

[Ghilayne Andrew]

That is the difference between Mr. Wells' sensibilities and Hollywood's. :P

[Capt. Red Llewellyn]

here, here! and really, how modern times can squash the best of our good manners!