Sunday 22 April 2012

Fun with Metarooms

Now, I have two very distinct problems with Creatures 3 and Docking Station. The first is simply that changing to 16-bit graphics is mildly inconvenient to me, as it causes a lot of issues with my Windows skin and certain programs. The second is that the world in C3/DS is enormous, especially with addons. In itself this isn't really a problem, but Docking Station also allows me to set breeding and population limits. (16 norns? How about two-thousand!?) Because I have little self-control, my worlds tend to get overpopulated very quickly and lag very badly.

However, reading news about new Metaroom releases has got me interested in playing again, despite the minor inconveniences. Metarooms are my weakness. I love them. Very much.

The first one I tried out was Silence Falls by Grendel_Man.


I really enjoy this Metaroom. It's not overly large, but the size is perfect when playing in windowed mode, as it does not require scrolling to view the entire map. The artwork is gorgeous as well, and I very much enjoy that I can add plants and critters to it. Though I wasn't able to successfully grow anything on the lower floor, the upper floor was quickly customized with plants and wildlife from other terrariums.

As it is a damp area, I thought a Maraquan grendel would be a good match for one of Grendel_Man's Waterfall grendels. I had anticipated that breeding would prove to be a challenge, as the Waterfall grendel is supposed to breed rather slowly. However, the incredible affection and friendliness of the Maraquan grendel proved to be a stronger force, and soon Cassidy and Normie were the proud parents of three daughters.



Yes. "Mary bu graaaah" indeed. Unfortunately, though both Cassidy and Normie seemed rather peaceful, their second daughter Myrtle (on the right) was not. Immediately after birth, Myrtle proceeded to hit her sisters and parents repeatedly, while her sisters informed her that, despite her abuse, they still "like mywtle".

The second Metaroom I wanted to try was The Biodome. (Okay, I know it isn't exactly new, but I hadn't found out about it until recently. So shush.) This Metaroom is gorgeous and highly customizable. The lower sections have change-able backgrounds for each area, which really gives the room a great deal of personality. I had quite a bit of fun making little "mini biodomes" in each section.








5 comments:

  1. Okay maybe I'm just thick, but how did you get the fish to swim about? I've tried using the water backgrounds and it seems to be just that: a background. My fish all fall to the ground and die :(

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    1. Hmmm, what kind of fish are you trying to place? I think the area is a saltwater area, so if you're putting any freshwater fish in, they'll end up dying. If not, though, I would say it's most likely a bug, as all I did was use the fish vendors, or pick them up and drop them in by hand.

      Also which section are you using? The one at the bottom-right has water backgrounds, but it does not appear that there is any water there. The one in the bottom-left seems to be the only aquatic area.

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    2. You have to "lock" the areas by clicking on the lock icon for it. That will change the roomtypes and CA.

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    3. Oooh, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you, I thought I may have been missing something!

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  2. Metarooms are usually my weakness, too, and the reason why I jump back into C3/DS more often than I normally would. Very nice customization with the Biodome areas! I usually get carried away with the population, too, especially when there is so much room! I'm planning on trying out Grendel Man's creations this week, or possibly the week after. I still have a soft spot for Grendels... Even the terribly violent ones who have to be kept away from Norns!

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