Turn that Reality Filter off!, VR Environments Supterthread Options

[Saint Sithney]

Okay, I hate Reality Filter. If I want nearly every digital environment to be the same, I'll just say that 99% of people use their Windows default background equivalent. But I don't want that. I want individual nodes to have personalized qualities, so I've just written Reality Filter out of existence and instead worked on Background and icon archetypes. The reality I want to paint is more like myspace. A person's node is somehow like an extension of their personality, and, in a world where kids log off from virtual school and then go over to each others nodes to play, these virtual environments are going to be a point of pride for most anyone having grown up in such an environment. It's quite possible that good friends will VPN their nodes together into virtual neighborhoods, but each location in such an area is going to have a personal theme. So, let's real quick put down some default themes and basic icon sets.


Retro collection: Basic low->medium (1-3) Response sets - Basic rules of physics as seen on Earth

Gothic Church - Firewall is Wrought-iron fences and towering stone walls. Encryption is locked doors and cabinets. Agent is robed servent. IC is gargoyles. Data is scrolls, books and bejeweled items. Hand bells ring for alarms. Silent alarm is far away chant. Tower bell is rung for alert. Purge program is a straw broom. Stealth is deep shadow. Data bombs are spring spike traps.

Roman Villa - Again, walls are walls. Encryption is bars and crossed spears. Agent is cook. IC is centurion. Data is papyrus scrolls and food. Alarms are voiced calls. Silent alarm is laughter from far rooms. Alerts are small glass bells. Purge is bucket and rag. Stealth is evidenced by dropping tapestries. Data bombs attract lightning from Jupiter/Zeus.

Japanese Temple - Bamboo spear walls block access. Encryption locked doors and chests. Agents are serving women. IC is Samurai or spear guard. Data again is scrolls and iron-forged goods. Alarms are sharp wood-on-wood claps. Silent alarm is song birds. Alerts by gong. Purge is floor towel. Stealth is leaves or rotating walls. Data bombs are bamboo grenades.

Rammed Earth Citadel (as was common across the Middle East to China) - Elements common to above temple entries. Surely you've got the pattern by now.

Victorian Mansion - Basically a skin for the roman villa.

19x0's Suburban Home - White picket fence for firewall. Locks and safes for encryption. Agent is wacky neighbor, maid or pet. IC is police constable or pet. Data is books, records/tapes/CDs/DVDs, folios, baked goods. Alarms are basic house alarms. Silent alarm is dogs barking in the distance. Alert is egg timer. Purge is a vacuum cleaner. Stealth is evidenced by being under rugs and behind furniture or from the never-ending doors and closets. Data bombs are leaky bottles of poison or what have you.

Full Environs: Meduim to high (2-5) Response sets - Large area with lots to see at once; exaggerated physics.

Naturalist's Retreat - Straight up woods surrounded by thorny briers. Encryption is a bit more abstract here. Data is kept in knotholes and the ability to climb up the trees and reach them determines access. Agents are things like owls and raccoons - tree dwelling creatures. IC is things like bears and large cats. Data comes in the form of stashed nuts and berries. Alarms sound like crow calls and are punctuated by the briers lighting aflame. Silent alarm is cicadas or crickets. Alert are handled by owl hoots or such. Purge is handled by insects. Stealthed items are revealed by falling from tree branches on spider webs. Data bombs are beehives. Popular with users who prefer animal personas.

Underground Bunker - The most common choice for most corporate nodes. Blast doors aplenty. Teleportals and laser grids control access. Agents are IC are basically what you'd expect - robots! Lots of sci-fi awesome here. Data is glowing energy rods or beakers full of knowledge. Alarms are pretty standard. Silent alarms like theremins or distant machinery. Alerts are vocal messages. This whole thing should be pretty familiar to anyone with shooter experience.

Space Station - Zero-G Physics. Much of the same science tropes and hallways as the Underground Bunker, but with an alien bent.

Tree Fort - First you have to get up there, firewalls restrict access through height. Cracking encryption leads to rope swings and zip lines. Metaphor sets can go several ways, from kids to woodsmen. Anthro-animals or fantasy elves not uncommon for woodsmen IC and agents on this one. Otherwise, you've got your basic Peter Pan thing here. Customized to the robin hood or pan archetype, you might run into a Friar Tuck Agent or a Rufio IC. Basic spatial warping within structures. Bigger on the inside like unto a TARDIS.

World is Tiny - Godzilla theme. The world is small and you walk around skyscrapers like coat racks.

World is Huge - Honey I Shrunk the Node. Lots of complicated structure piles. Soft gravity.

Toon World - Everything from 100 Acre Wood to whatever they come up with in the next 60 years.

Belly of the Beast - Ewwwww. Organic backdrops on everything. Much like the bunker or station other than the skin change.

High Response (4-6+) sets: Characterized by abstract physics and sweeping, expansive vistas

MC Escher 4D house - All that spacial distortion goodness.

Magic kingdom - Fantastic world of dreams stuff. Ride across sparkling canyons on waves of sound. Fall through water pools into a new room where you have to climb down. Metaphors are specific only to the room they are in. Icons and relationships will change even in your hands as you move around.

Small Alien World - A tiny planetoid with specialized gravity and physics. Expect firewall to be planetary forcefield. Encryption is natural hazards and closed up alien ruins. Agents are critters. IC is nasty critters like OMG SAND WORMS. Underground cities, sprawling tunnel systems

Funhouse Disco Party! - Rooms full of data as sound and light.

Living Library - Jump from book to book and world to world.












OH MAN I AM GOING TO FINISH THESE WHEN I HAVE SOME MORE FREE TIME BOY HOWDY.