Zimminyville, created and maintained by Curfax Zimminy and Flo Zimminy (SweetFloXO), occupies a full region leveraging the full region land capacity bonus. It is one of the most remarkable regions we’ve yet visited, and is very much a place of two very different halves.
At the ground level is a town which, according to the About Land description, changes with the seasons, lies a small town. Right now it is caught in the midst of winter, snowbound and surrounded by high mountains. The landing point sits towards the centre of town, alongside a large mock-Tudor house that faces a large map showing the town’s layout, although specific points of interest aren’t labelled.
This lack of labelling (beyond the “you are here” pin) actually isn’t a disadvantage; snowy road wind their way through and around the landscape, and following them will lead you on a worthwhile tours of exploration. For the most part, the town has a feeling of being a small, but once industrious place; on the south side can be found large warehouse-like buildings that tower over the rest of the landscape.
However, and while fishing boat, crowded by ice floes, sits alongside a small wharf, it is clear that commerce has moved on for the most part. The brick-built warehouses have been converted for use as residences or bars, while the little harbour has the wreck of a trawler lying within it, preventing the use of a good portion of the wharf.
The water and piers continue along the west side of the town, marked by yet another sunken trawler. Again, while the might once have been a place of fishing commerce, the wharf here is now far more of a tourist attraction, a long, pleaant (if bracing, given the weather!), walk along the waterfront, complete with a launch point for balloon rides over the town. A second balloon can be found to the east, but lies separated from the town by a high spine of rock, home to fir trees and an old forest ranger’s station. A tunnel at the foot of this ridge offers a means from trains to reach the local terminus, complete with the bulk of vintage engine de-railed alongside and attesting the the age of the town.
A screen of trees also separates the terminus from the rest of the town, together with a little stretch of wilderness cut by a stream sealed under a layer of ice and – rather surprisingly – the bulk of an old space freighter, also seemingly converted into a home.
With its houses, winding roads, buildings old and new, Zimminyville has the look and feel of a remote town somewhere in high latitudes, possibly in North America. There is a wonderfully eclectic look and feel to the setting, from the drive-in theatre and its mixture of vehicles, to the juxtaposition of the converted space freighter with the nearby old windmill. However, the most interesting oddity in the setting is the presence of a large glass-and-steel pyramid that points a laser-like beam up into the sky.
Futuristic in both look and content, this is the gateway to the second half of the region: a large, well-established space port sitting on the surface of the Moon. Four launchpads are presented inside the pyramid, three of them home to individual pods that can carry one passenger at a time up to the Moon. Which you take is entirely up to you, as all three will arrive at different points within the same station, before “return” after you’ve disembarked.
It is to this space port that commerce has clearly moved. In difference to the sleepy setting of the town, the base is a bustling hive of activity. Passengers can be found in the departure lounges doing the things people do before a flight: sitting and waiting, passing the time in conversation, getting food and snacks or anxiously checking-in. Others are to be found hurrying along the enclosed corridors hurrying to / from departure or arrival gates, or waiting for departure aboard their transports, all of them watched over by security guards or flight crew.
A small, two-seat military vessel is also docked in the lower portion of the station, although military uses for the station do not appear to be otherwise much in evidence. Fed Ex, however, do have a large presence, with freighters sit loaded and awaiting departure, ready to carry all measure of goods – and in one case, passengers – elsewhere.
Quite where everyone is going is hard to say, but it would appear the station is very much a gateway to the rest of the solar system. Beyond the passenger hub of the station sits the huge bulk of the Europa Sun, a massive spacer crammed with facilities, including two large hangers. Whether she is still operational or not, is hard to say. She sits on sturdy landing legs, massive engines rotated for lift-off, her flight deck still in place. But the conglomeration of habitation units on her back and research / industrial units under her belly suggests she is perhaps now a permanent part of the base, the hemisphere of her bio dome offering those staying on the base who need it, a reminder of the trees and greenery of Earth.
Facing Europa Sun from across the base is the impressive bulk of a huge structure. It looks a little incongruous in some ways, particularly given appears to the grass and topiary hedgerows found in was should be the airless near-vacuum of space, and alongside a landing pad marked for helicopters (or perhaps the “H” is for “hopper”, as in “Moon hopper”?). What looks to be some kind of control centre sits under this landing pad, but the bulk of the building forms a huge cathedral setting – albeit one with a further pod landing pad vying with the altar for attention. A closer look at the latter will reveal the building’s function: the opportunity to have a real get-away-from-it-all wedding…
A sense of life has been added throughout the station by the inclusion of static characters (I won’t call them NPCs, are they are entirely non-interactive). They are typical of the people you might find in any Earthly airport. All of them bring a certain depth to the setting, as do their compatriots down within the town, even if they are fewer in number.
Zimminyville is, when all is set and done, a quite remarkable location. The town and the lunar base are strikingly different to one another, and each has its own mystery to explore. Time is very much needed to appreciate everything on offer (and to find things like the table games available in both). The attention to detail and the level of care taken in such a complex build is impressive, and there are plenty of opportunities for photography throughout.
Given all that is on offer you might find more than one visit is required to capture all there is to be found, but whether you go once ot twice or any number of times, Zimminyville is not a destination to be missed. Once again, our thanks to Shakespeare for the pointer!
SLurl Details
- Zimminyville (Zimminy, rated: Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 