Month: October 2021

Cube Republic (of the landscape brand fame), pointed me towards a fabulous build entitled Alexandreia Rhakotis, advising me it was a impressive build. As such, I took the first opportunity to hop over and take a look for myself.

Designed by Kleopatra T. Philopator (Kleopatra Alpha) and Elio Donat, the build is modelled after ancient Egyptian city of Alexandra, towards the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty’s rule over Egypt. It sits within a 3-region setting held by Kleopatra (2 regions) and one by Ellen of Sparta (ellenharriet) that offer a range of period destinations set within the 43-42 BC time frame, although for this article I will be focusing purely on Alexandreia Rhakotis itself.

Also accessible via an airborne landing point that provides access to all of the setting within the estate, the city has been designed to represent how ancient Alexandria may have appeared during the reign of Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 BC – 10 August 30 BC), the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Her life and rule are probably most well known as being bound up with Julius Caesar (a relationship which produced a son, Caesarion, who would become the last Pharaoh of ancient Egypt), and her later affair with Mark Anthony, who came to rely on her for funding and military support during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia, and with whom she distributed lands held by Rome and Parthia amongst her children (including Caesarion).

The setting is very much a labour of love for Kleopatra, who described something of its origins and development to me.

I started this work in 2016 with half a region. I’ve always loved Egypt and I developed a passion for the Ptolemaic time. Moreover, this time of Egypt is not well known and it’s a shame because Alexandria was an exceptional city.  I have been also very lucky to meet a man who has passion for building, he is a genius! Even so, researching has been difficult, because the city has been the victim of sackings, tsunami and earthquakes that have left much of it underwater, and the rest built over. We used a lot of resources: ancient writings, the work of Jean-Yves Empereur and Franck Goddio and so on.

– Kleopatra T. Philopator, discussing Alexandreia Rhakotis with me

Of course, regions being what they are, compromises have had to be made in the presentation of the city. For example, the island of Pharos, home to the famous lighthouse of the same name, and a part of the natural protection of the city’s Great Harbour, is absent, leaving only a foreshortened version of the Heptastadion causeway, which leads directly to the lighthouse. However, given the Heptastadion alone was said to be 1.2 km long and 200 metres wide, and so would require 5 regions in its own right to be fully reproduced, a lack of Pharos is hardly surprising – and completely understandable. Nevertheless, this is still a simply stunning build: as Cube remarked to me, it is like stepping into one of the models you might find under glass with a museum and walking through it.

Central to the city – as with its inspiration – is the Canopic Way, the principal east-west thoroughfare (although here it runs north to south) that ran through it. In its time, the Canopic Way was home to the majority of the Ptolemaic and Roman monuments, and many of the city’s major buildings and temples, and this is again reflected in Kleopatra and Elio’s build.

These include the Serapeum of Alexandria, the temple to the Graeco-Egyptian deity Serapis, protector of the city, built on the orders of Ptolemy III Euergetes. There is also the Great Library, centre of learning for the kingdom and a centre of learning for the world around Alexandria. This faces the the Caesareum of Alexandria, built under the orders of Cleopatra VII herself to honour Julius Caesar, and believed to have once had the obelisks we today call Cleopatra’s Needles flanking its entrance; whilst just inside the city’s inner gates lies the tomb of Alexander the Great, who established and gave his name to the city, whilst throughout are statues to the likes of Ptolemy, and Hermanubis, a god combining Hermes from the Greeks and Anubis from the Egyptians.

At the end of the Way lies a great palace with laid out gardens, shaded walks, throne room and private chambers. It bookends the core of the Canopic Way by sitting at one end, whilst the homes and places of business for the ordinary populace, set at the other, the latter offered in a stark contrast to the Ptolemaic-Romano grandeur of the main city setting.

To the east can be found the Heptastadion and the Pharos lighthouse, whilst a part of the dockyards of the Great Harbour also sits to the east side of the city, complete with ships berthed at the wharf and under construction on the shoreline. Throughout the city can be found large gold chalices mounted on marble plinths. These are information givers that will provide further note cards on the structures they stand beside / within, and provided in a choice of languages (English, French, Italian and Arabic). Further information can be obtained on a range of subject from the lecterns within the Great Library.

A further point to note with Alexandreia Rhakotis is that it is living place. Not just as a result of it being a place for role-play, but because Kleopatra and Elio are constantly tweaking and improving, building and adding. Some of this is actually noted by the fact there are signs of construction to be found within the city walls (building work was much a part of Alexandria right the way through to Emperor Hadrian). In this, I’d also point out that the vast majority of the structures and elements found within the city have all be uniquely designed and built by Elio, and are not offered for sale, further marking the uniqueness of the city and the setting in general.

While the position of various structures along the Canopic Way might be open to debate (there is some difference between the position of the Great Library here and where it appears on a drawing representing Alexandria in the time of Hypatia (roughly 400 years after Cleopatra VII), for example), this doesn’t actually matter. This is because it is the presentation of the whole, rather than the positioning of the individual parts that makes Alexandreia Rhakotis such an immersive and – dare I say it – educational setting, as well as a play for role-play and other activities, a fact that further adds to the regions being an absolute “must see”.

As noted, this is one of a number of locations within a three region estate that represent the period 43-42 BC; I’ll be covering the rest in a follow-up article.

SLurl Details

• Alexandreia Rhakotis City Gates (Special One, rated Adult)

So, I’ve probably mentioned I’m really not one for the whole “Halloween season” thing, but a couple of years ago I dropped into Miskatonic County, the themed Full region held by Tobiath Tendaze, and tried their Halloween / horror first-person adventure / shoot-’em-up. As it has been a couple of years since that visit, I decided to drop back and see what has changed with the new adventure, Tales of Miskatonic County: Dragon Rising.

In the shadows and back alleys of Miskatonic, evil has returned. Cultists have raised portals and called forth horrors from the abyssal plains to attack the city. Their goal is to restore the reign of the Great Old Ones. This Halloween, a titan will rise!

– Introduction to Tales of Miskatonic County: Dragon Rising

Visitors to the region are delivered to a landing point where the essentials can be picked up – a HUD and a revolver. Both of which are available via boards on the walls of the landing point.

When obtaining the HUD, may be asked to join the region’s Experience. This is a necessary part of the activity, so you should click on the Yes button. Don’t worry about the control permissions being granted over your avatar – these are necessary to the game and will be revoked when you leave the region (those who have previously accepted the Miskatonic experience need only touch the board to receive a fresh HUD).

Once the Experience has been accepted, the game HUD will automatically attach to your screen, and – unseen – a character sheet is created for you, if one does not already exist. This records and saves your progress, and allows you to leave the experience at any time (removing the HUD), and then re-join it at a later time, your progress being automatically uploaded to the new HUD. If you wish to delete all of your progress and start over, click the red cube at the landing point.

I’m not going to explain the HUD in all its glory here, as it includes an option to receive an explanatory note card, so I’ll leave you with a quick image-based overview (right). Do note that the three numbered elements of the HUD can be moved independently around your screen.

Once the HUD is attached, click the Pistol sign on the wall to obtain what looks to be a Colt Python .357 Magnum. While this may not be “the most powerful handgun in the world” (as a certain cinematic cop might say through gritted teeth), you will need it to blast the various nasties you’ll be encountering, preferably before they do you a serious mischief.

To find said nasties, take the teleport portal just outside the landing point down to the ground level and the edge of the town of Miskatonic. On arrival, you’ll need to switch to Mouselook to aim and fire your gun (left mouse-click). The nasties themselves may be wandering the various locations, others might be spawned via a “gateway” and others may burst forth in front of (or behind) you unexpectedly. When they attack you, they will cause damage to your health, shields and armour – so shooting sooner rather than later is advised. Such damage will recover over time, but should your health reach “zero”, you’ll be teleported to the town’s care centre where you can use a hospital bed to recover.

You can also help recover your health in several ways: by consuming the food and drinks that might be found within some of the buildings (which you can move around in 3rd person view as the nasties do not enter them), or by collecting any first aid kits you might find, or by using the energy vials some of the nasties might leave behind when “killed”. In all three cases, left-click the object in question to “add” it to a slot in the HUD’s inventory, then click the slot itself to “consume” the item it contains.

It is possible to simply run around blasting nasties, using the teleport portals (tunnels and covered bridges) to move between the town’s different locations to locate them. However, there is also at least one story awaiting discovery by touching various books, etc., and then reading the contents via the HUD.

However, there are also NPCs – non-player characters – awaiting discovery. Touching one will open a “dialogue” conducted via the HUD that will both provide information (possibly via more than one touch or by clicking the HUD info panel), and one or more quest options, including a list of possible quests which you can opt to complete. (you can select up to 5 quests at a time, opening opportunities for varied game play).

Quests vary in content from continuing the shoot-the-nasty format through to performing rescuing or finding items. Again a note card available through the Help options in the HUD will provide information on the various quests that many be available.

All of which adds up to the opportunity for first-person entertainment.  As with 2019, I found that while the instructions on using the HUD, following quests, etc., to be very detailed, the broader brush-strokes of the main story seem to be poorly presented. What is the coming “titan”? What role does it play in the actual activities within the region? Perhaps this is only discovered by completing all quests, etc., which admittedly I have not done.  I will say that I found the shoot-’em-up aspect oddly addictive – as I did in 2019 -, although this was tempered by the fact that the game HUD seemed exceptionally slow to respond / update, even when I was the only person in the region.

Nevertheless, if adventure games / hunts are your thing, Dragon Rising may well be worth the time poking at.

SLurl Details

• Tales of Miskatonic County: Dragon Rising (Miskatonic County, rated Moderate)