Decks 2 and 3 of the Wisteria are the habitat module of the ship, containing bedrooms, recreation, food, the infirmary, and the aeroponics bay.

This module is not really the best place to add details that express the function of this ship or anything, but maybe I can squeeze in some more worldbuildingy cultural stuff.

In terms of game mechanics, the player would reasonably be able to recharge their energy in many of the spaces here. But while I feel like it makes some sense for these spaces to be clustered together in the habitat module as that-place-you-go-when-off-duty, from a level design standpoint it might be… less than ideal.

I need to think about this a bit.

Aeroponics

Aeroponics might not be the right word, but this is supposed to be a place where food is grown and carbon dioxide turned into oxygen. I’m quite certain it’s not even close to large or dense enough to serve this purpose realistically but there’s uh some time-dilating tech inside the glass plant enclosures where a season inside the glass is a couple days outside.

Something like that.

But hey, it’s also pretty.

It’s supposed to feel like weird formal garden and there are a few tables and benches on which to sit and relax, so I think of this as a sort of break area too. This space also exists to convey the idea that people in this universe have little concept of what real nature is.

This area is one of the most complete sections of the ship, but it still needs details to communicate what the space is for:

• The glass enclosures need fruit and vegetables that look, you know, tasty.
• There needs to be clear storage for harvested fruit and vegetables, or an indication that harvesting is a thing that happens from time to time–like, an open enclosure with a crate of fruit next to it.
• It should be more obvious where the freshwater tank is (it’s there, but it’s really not clear what you’re looking at).
• There should be more benches. Right now there’s just one bench and one table to sit at. Not exactly a space that’s inviting people to sit and relax in it.
• There should be evidence of recreational activities happening. Light reading on a bench; a card game on the table.

(Note that I’m not talking about environmental storytelling here. Tinselfly will not feature any environmental storytelling. It just… it doesn’t work for me. It doesn’t excite me. I don’t want the player stopping to pore over every detail in these scenes, trying to piece together a story. It wouldn’t be right for the pacing I want. Ok, moving on.)

Food

Currently, the Wisteria has a single mess hall that seats 66.

It’s… fine. One of the first spaces I made for this project. I even made it twice. You wouldn’t think this would be a great place to do world building, but there is a very specific detail I want this area to express.

In the Tinselfly universe, if you go out to eat, you’re probably eating in something like a food hall. The idea being that people from a wide variety of worlds with a wide variety of dietary needs and preferences can always eat in a shared space with others. A big ship would have a food hall, though even my oversized Wisteria might not fit this definition of ‘big’.

In any case, I’d like to squeeze this in, as it’s supposed to highlight that there are societal systems in place, maybe a little different that the real world, that exist because this is a multi-planetary civilization.

Having said all that, I think it would be absurd to have multiple kitchens or food stations or anything like that on a ship of this size. Maybe I can have this idea inform the mess details on a much smaller scale.

I think a ship like this would reasonably have a buffet for every meal, which already lets people pick and choose what they want to eat, and how much of it. But maybe there’s a way to sci-fi up that concept. There’s really not room for buffet tables, a bit of a design oversight. But I could do a dim sum like thing with food trays flying around that people would wave down. That way they wouldn’t take up valuable floor space, they’d add motion to the scene (again, any sense of busyness that I can add, without having to animate humans is a good thing), and there could even be a puzzle involving the flying food trays.

Recreation

There are a few different places people can go to relax or entertain themselves in the habitat module.

The gym

The treadmill needs a 3d video wall showing a space you’re running through. Maybe not so much on the ship, but there should be lots of details in environments that are all about helping you pretend you’re somewhere else; it’s a big theme here.

Could also use some wall hangings–class schedules, reminders of upcoming competitions, races or other events.

The Mess

People might go there to play card games or just hang out.

The mess could also double as an entertainment venue when food is not being served.

The original plan was to have a set piece where something is happening while there’s a movie being projected through the space, but that might mess up the flying plates idea. Or hey, maybe they could work together in an absurd way.

Lounge

The wiry bistro furniture in the lounge really needs to go; it’s just not the right feel for the space at all. But I don’t have any more utilitarian looking furniture yet.

Needs some games and books on the shelf.

Infirmary

Right now, there isn’t one, but I want to make the gym smaller and put the infirmary there.

What’s in here will probably be determined by how much the player will need to make use of it. Right now, there isn’t even a concept of a health bar in the game, despite there being sword fighting.

So I’ll go ahead and adjust the gym walls to make space for it, and leave it empty for a while.

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Next up: the absurdly oversized engineering bay. Which needs help.