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Messages - Peenut2k7

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Game Discussion / Low-key analysis of the current and legacy maps
« on: January 10, 2023, 04:54:50 am »
I've been feeling nostalgic lately, and that's led me back to the fuzzy world of FeralHeart; I haven't been paying that much attention to whatever's been unfolding in the last few years, don't have strong opinions on them and won't comment on any of that, most of my attention lately has been spent gawking at the microscopic numbers that the player counter tends to display and most of my time in my recent FH wanderings have been spent in the legacy maps (this specific mirror of them, I believe). Also, bonus points for redesigning the login page, I haven't seen one gross and/or malicious ad since it was instated :p

This idea came to me today; I figured it would be fun to run around the Feral Lands, both its current incarnation (in place since mid-2016) and in the state I personally associate with FeralHeart (active between 2011 - mid 2016). I've made an effort to jot down what I think works and doesn't work about each map (that I can remember), alongside thoughts on the two "worlds" in general.

So, without further ado:





Old World (2011 - 2016)

In general: Rose-tinted glasses may be at play here. The maps are comparatively barren, but they tend to have at least a few notable landmarks. Many maps are arguably too big for their own good (a handful objectively so, read on).

Function-Driven Maps

Lonely Cave: Nothing really worth commenting on here, everything is fairly compact. The Cape of Distant Worlds, South Pole and Ficho Tunnels are easily accessible, and the small climb to Ascension Island reflects the trials of that map.

Cape of Distant Worlds: No longer accessible through the existing 1.17-friendly mirrors of the old maps. It had a sky, but that was the only obvious plus in its favor that I can remember. Both iterations serve their purpose.

Fichonian Realm

Arguably the three most iconic maps of the old FeralHeart world (and also Temple of Dreams).

Ficho Tunnel: The journey from the Lonely Cave entrance point to Fluorite Plains is unnecessarily lengthy and windy, and the one-way nature of the waterfall (good ol' Printscreen Falls) is a glaring design flaw. A point in the map's favor is that it is very straightforward, winding tunnel to Fluorite aside - the paths to both Fluorite Plains and Bonfire Island are simple and don't intertwine at all.

Bonfire Island: As simple as it gets: 2/4 jungle, 1/4 nothing and 1/4 the island's defining ridge + the coastal shrublands that sit behind it. The fact that the island was such a hotbed of activity and chaos in its day is a testament to the community back then doing big things with limited materials to work with.

Fluorite Plains: Even with some memorable landmarks (Stone Bridge, L Island, the Temple of Dreams portal structure and the northerly caves are good examples), the map is ridiculously gigantic and half of it is completely barren. The green plains that lay west of the western river, much of L Island and the entire southeastern portion of the map are egregious examples of this. The main landmass's coniferous northern half is unique among all of the old maps.

Temple of Dreams: It looks nice, but there really isn't much to it. Perhaps a few grassy islands with trees beneath the eponymous structure could have livened it up a little.

The Crappy Realm

Yeah, I won't lie, this specific set of maps stinks, each for their own special reasons.

South Pole: Nevermind there not really being much to this map, there's basically nothing to it besides it being pure snow and the heightmap looking like it was procedurally generated. At the very least, the snowy weather and landscape are distinctive by themselves for the old maps, but Kibou Ridge is a much better stab at a winter map.

Atlantis: Despite some interesting underwater architecture (speaking of - the old world, and to an extent the current world, have a smattering of old, overgrown ruins, often adjacent to fluorite crystals; I like to imagine that there was a sort of ancient civilization that predates the ferals that utilized the crystals), the map is the size of Fluorite Plains with basically no interesting landmarks besides a single lonely palm tree and fluorite crystal, let alone ones that can be discerned from the minimap.

Speaking of overlarge maps...

Last Cave: This map is not only too big for my liking, but it is objectively too big: it's so massive (probably twice the size of Atlantis and Fluorite Plains!) that, if the player goes to its edges, the game will crash - no, really, they won't get kicked, the game will just straight up crash! Even ignoring that, it has no interesting landmarks at all and the heightmap is reused from Atlantis's. Last Cave may just be the worst map in all of FeralHeart, be it pre- or post-map overhaul. Good riddance.

The Sky Realm

A world perfect for the winged... so long as they first prove themselves on their feet.

Ascension Island: Provides a challenge that scales significantly depending on the size of the player character (the scout character I used for exploring while writing this was small, so I didn't have that much trouble - THAT much - or any trouble at all with the rings, actually). The focus on gameplay over exploration or player interaction is totally unique, and completely unrepresented in the current iteration of the game.

Sky's Rim: Custom-built for winged ferals with flimsy guard rails for landlocked ones like my scout. The topmost island with the two caves and the steam is nice, and the map itself is unique and cool.



The Feral Lands (2016 - present)

In general: Suffers from a lack of major landmarks, foliage is too plentiful for its limited variety (WAY too much long grass). The extremely busy nature of the maps (the aforementioned foliage issue is a big part of this) takes away from the impact of the landmarks there are. The fact that they are generally smaller is a positive and a surefire improvement over the maps of yore.

Hub Worlds

There are two root-of-all-maps-type maps in the current iteration of the game for some reason; personally I'd have omitted The Grounds and made Lonely Cave more like its incarnation in the old world, with multiple portals leading to the different territories. I don't like The Grounds or its place in the feral "ecosystem" but this isn't the place to complain about that.

Lonely Cave: Nothing to really comment on, it serves the same purpose it did pre-overhaul. The boards explaining the game's rules are a good touch that would have been priceless during the game's prime, which was very ugly in basically all regards. A nitpick here is that the current map design doesn't fit its name very much, the namesake cave is a small part of the map.

The Grounds: Despite nice spots like a pond with islands, a raised bit of land near the pond and a small desiccated place perfect for the "OLs" of yore, whenever there are players on the map, they only ever stick to the path near the Lonely Cave portal and the adjacent acacias.

Cape of Distant Worlds: The lack of any sort of sky is weird, I genuinely don't know if that's intended or not. Otherwise, it's more aesthetically pleasing than the original iteration of the map.

Eastern Territories

A very tropical set of maps. Naturally, they bring to mind Bonfire Island.

Eastern Pass: Very mountainous and somewhat confusingly laid out, but the highlands of the central plateau bring to mind the peak of old Bonfire Island to an extent. Indeed, the layout and landmarks of the map could make for a fitting cradle for a TLK roleplay rebirth - locales like Pride Rock, the watering hole, the Outlands and the Elephant Graveyard can easily be interpreted from the various peaks, valleys, ponds and foliage. Also interesting are the highlands that form the map's borders, which are totally unlike anything from the early days of the game and are interesting design-wise.

Bonfire Islands: Technically more interesting than the original Bonfire Island, but caveats are aplenty; the eponymous islands are far from the portal, and personally I'm not big on the heaping helping of acacias that cover them (I'd have went for a sparse palm look akin to the old island, personally). Aside from a couple of campfires (not actual bonfires, booo /s) that finally add some flames to the place and a very nice mix between a hot spring and a tidepool, there are few landmarks, and worth mentioning is that there is nothing resembling the original, single island's  massive ridge - there is a ridge on the easternmost of the three main islands, but it is relatively small and unremarkable.

Zama Grotto: The notion of a purely submarine map is interesting and the heightmap shown on the minimap is intricate and beautiful, but I'd be lying if I said I liked the layout that much. It serves its purpose as a bridge between Bonfire and Kiwimbi.

Kiwimbi Beach: Very stretched out and sparse on memorable landmarks. Waterfalls and a mangrove swamp, which are very close to one another, and an easter egg are the main takeaways here besides the beach itself.

Western Territories

Er, territory, singular. Maybe there'll be an expansion of the western Feral Lands in the future, who knows.

Seaside Grove: There's little to comment on here beyond the fact that the map is thick with oak trees. The map is small and has lots of little places for the player to sit and run around.

Northern Territories

A more temperate/boreal realm than the east, akin to Fluorite Plains' northern reaches.

Ficho Tunnels: It must be acknowledged that the map addresses two major issues with the original Ficho Tunnel: it has no one-way waterfalls and, if you don't want to explore or go to Kibou Ridge, it's a quick, straight dash to Cherika Valley. The map is large, though, and somewhat easy to get lost in if you're like me and you aren't that familiar with the new maps. The old Ficho has exactly one thing over the new one, and that thing is simplicity.

Cherika Valley: A big, wide, relatively simple map, and perhaps the most "classic" of all of the maps that came with the overhaul - there is a very large, very easily-discernible landmark in the middle (a structure with a fluorite crystal in the middle - perhaps a remnant of the civilization that built Atlantis and the Temple of Dreams that survived whatever catastrophe altered the landscape?), a large lake with tall waterfalls, pebbled shores and nearby overhangs, and a big planter with a pine sapling (odd). I may be biased in this map's favor because I like the sort of boreal aesthetic.

Kibou Ridge: Besides the waterfall and stepping stone cliffs in the eastern third of the map, basically devoid of landmarks that are easy to spot from afar. I dig the winter aesthetic, though, and the easter eggs hidden here are very fun. (might the paintings be the work of the aforementioned precursor civilization?)



I've tried to keep my opinions on which set I prefer out of this, I've said my piece on that topic elsewhere - here I'll just say that both have their respective pros and cons. That's it for now, I might look back here to add spice like screenshots with my little scout character and the like.

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Game Suggestions & Ideas / Re: The Feral Heart Revitalization Survey
« on: December 18, 2020, 09:10:39 pm »
I've given my two cents; my answers aren't the most optimistic in the world, but hopefully they can be worked off of.

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Game Discussion / Re: Raz you need to resign.
« on: February 20, 2020, 07:53:51 pm »
I came back with a sliver of hope that the game could potentially improve; experience from the few months I have been here - from my perspective, the community is a tenth the size it used to be and those who are left are increasingly distant from each other; there are other qualms I have with the current state of things, but they are aside the point - and looking over a few threads have extinguished that. Color me disappointed and not at all surprised (I didn't come back particularly optimistic in the first place).

If I could give an estimate to how long I expect the game to last from here, I'm expecting the the average number of users online to go into single digits into November - whether or not this would be accompanied by the game shutting down, this would translate to FeralHeart's death in my book. Optimistically, I'll give it until the game's tenth anniversary.

Maybe I'm biased as a jaded 2012-2013 player, I don't know.

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Forum Discussion / Re: January 21st?
« on: February 20, 2020, 07:40:31 pm »
Jokes aside, I've seen something like this before on another forum; all of the excessive guests there were bots that were threats to that forum's security.

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Game Suggestions & Ideas / Ursines / Bears
« on: October 29, 2019, 10:13:53 pm »
So, apparently the floodgates of update potential have been opened while I was away; naturally, this has given me a lot more hope for new species being added to the game. Of the potential creatures that could be added, bears have always stood out to me, given that they can't really be accurately replicated using the current models (and because I like bears); so, I've come up with a bunch of ideas on what bears could be like and how they could be handled. So, without further ado:

New Species: Ursine
(yes,I know this is technically inaccurate because there are markings for tremarctines and ailuropodines mentioned further down, but felines have pantherine lion manes and tiger stripes, whatever)

  • One thing that could make bears unique right out of the gate is size; they'd be substantially bigger than the dogs or cats. Their maximum shoulder height would be the same as the feline's maximum head height.
  • A couple of notes on their anatomy: bears are plantigrade (their hind feet are flat, they don't walk on their toes like dogs or cats) and their heads can't really go any higher than their shoulders (the shoulder hump limits upward movement; they can look down just fine).
  • Their morph sliders are the same as the canines.
  • The default tail is short and stubby; aside from the obligatory tailless option, there would be a couple other options that are a little longer and differently shaped.
  • Manes are more based around covering the neck than with adding hair to the head (though there'd be styles with mohawks and bangs and so on, for those who are into that). Fluffy manes, spiky manes, smooth manes, side manes...
  • Most of the more naturalistic ears are appropriately round and relatively small by default. More fantastical ears take notes from the feline's ear selection.
  • Lots of different tufts, mostly centered around the back and belly.
  • Unique markings could include a chest moon, a spectacled bear face and giant panda bi-colored markings; there is plenty of room for others (given some special animations they have, maybe there could be a bit of cheekiness in giving them superficially clothing-like markings). Markings applicable to both cats and dogs would also be applicable to bears.

Animations are where bears could differ most from cats and dogs, and disputably where they could truly shine:
  • Though they run at the same pace as cats and dogs, their walking speed would be just a little bit slower. Naturally, the walking and running animations would be quite different from the current models, given how different their anatomy is.
  • The lying down set that leads to rolling over is more or less the same, though a bear lying on its back would have its legs and arms spread out more than the current species.
  • The sleeping lie-down set would not have the bear curled up in a ball like the feline and canine. Rather, it would shift onto its side a little bit and rest its head on its paws.
  • Four dancing animations:
  • Its headswing dance is not very different from the other animals' headswings.
  • Its headbang dance incorporates bipedalism; headbanging bears will stand up on their hind legs and start headbanging like a big, furry guy, with one of its arms raised in the air (perhaps gesturing "rock on!" with a paw).
  • Its moonwalk is again not different from either felines or canines.
  • As for its unique dance: it gets up on its hind legs, crosses its arms and kicks at the air, one foot at a time. Because why not.
  • Like the feline, it roars. The bear rears up onto its hind legs, spreads out its arms and roars, before dropping back down onto all fours.
  • Its stretch animation is similarly unique; instead of just stretching as if it were a yawning cat, it sits down, falls onto its back and starts stretching its limbs.
  • Just for fun: bears would not sneak in the same crouched posture cats and dogs do, instead, they get up on their hind legs and slowly walk. "Crouching" is a general bear-friendly bipedal stance. Human roleplayers rejoice.

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Game Discussion / Re: Veteran Player Nostalgia?
« on: October 29, 2019, 01:55:43 am »
Even though I first joined just a couple days shy of eight years ago (I didn't have any idea what I was doing and got a tiger character into Fluorite by sheer luck; I think that me cheesing off a lioness as a hyena was on the same day), my first really big, prominent FH memories were at some point in 2012, when I found Bonfire and stumbled upon the island's Lion King roleplayers.

By far my best memories of FeralHeart were through TLK roleplays; I'll gladly admit that I was really big on the whole idea, especially playing through the events of the first movie playing out pre-Lion Guard interpretations of what everything was like before said movie.

As for a few other things I have (not all necessarily fond...) memories of:

  • The horses and deer in the Bonfirian lowlands
  • Various centers screaming to the heavens in local chat
  • Centers in general
  • The layout of the "Pride Lands" in the context of Bonfire: the cave, flower bed and ledge on the mountain were Pride Rock, behind the cave was Scar's lair, the rocks beside the cave were that spot where Nala and Simba were with their mothers, most of the rest of the mountain was the Pride Lands, behind the mountain were the Outlands and the gorge, the jungle was the oasis...
  • *KILLS NO MISS* *DODGES*
  • Headswing/rage face "fights"
  • Most of the landmarks in Fluorite (the L island where lions congregated, that one big oak tree, Stone Bridge...)
  • Ascension Island's giant climb
  • Sparkledogs, edgewolves, etc.
  • The print screen waterfall in Ficho
  • All of those beggars
  • General chat
  • Movie spam
  • Pillars, orbs, etc.
  • Alpha Feralis (something that I did that I look back on with a lot of warmth; think a future world that is ruled by cats and dogs, very directly inspired by the "ecosystems" of places like Bonfire and Fluorite; edgewolves were envisioned as giant predators, canihorses were carnivorous horse-like creatures, adoption centers were walking orphanages, etc. I'm still sort of working on Alpha Feralis, but mostly in the sense that I've been updating a tree of life to account for how updates affect the playerbase)
  • The 2013 - 2015 Tumblr craze that laid waste to the game's "ecosystems" by mocking users and characters in and out of the game (conversely, looking back on all of this, I feel nothing but contempt and shame for what I and a lot of other people were doing at the time; I feel like I've directly left a scar on the game's history - I feel like this is what killed the TLK roleplaying craze on Bonfire)
  • To end on a high note: roleplays! I really liked roleplaying but didn't really know what the heck I was doing half the time. Still good times for the most part.

I'm probably forgetting a lot of stuff, that's what comes to mind as I write. Maybe one or two of these things are still relevant, I haven't played enough of the current game to know for sure (from experience it's just people sitting alongside the road connecting Lonely Cave and The Grounds... and nothing else... no open roleplays or weird occurences, just... sitting and occasionally talking...)

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Game Discussion / Re: The mixed future of FeralHeart
« on: October 27, 2019, 05:42:50 pm »
Me lurking for no particular reason led me to find this thread, which inspired me to say something here for the first time in - what, three years? (for those who are wondering who in the world I am, hi, nice to meet you, one or two of you may or may not recognize me as Default from around 2014)

Mind, this is from the perspective who hasn't been a serious member of the community since 2015 or 2016 (what's a no mod October), and someone who hasn't played the game in a year or two. (the login screen - which I didn't ever really like but I initially put up with it anyway - throwing malicious ads in my face whenever I try to play is a huge turn-off for me, it is the de-facto reason I don't play FH anymore, even ignoring the new maps)

So. The question of how I'd feel if the game were to shut down, and whether or not I would want it to stay active.

Honestly, I have to say that, for as many fond memories (and terrible ones... regrets over my behavior from late 2013 - 2015 is best saved somewhere else) as I've had playing FeralHeart and being a part of its community, I wouldn't be that bothered if it were to close down, though I'm sure many other people would beg to differ. I would feel some sadness of course. this game was a big part of my life for in the first half of the decade and it played at least some role in shaping who I am as I write. But, outside looking in as I write, I don't see much chance of the game rising back up like some fuzzy, cat-or-dog-shaped phoenix, even with fancy new updates (I haven't downloaded it but the last update looks pretty sweet), potential removal of that malware dispenser you have to brave to play the game (though that would definitely get me back on board, at least) or any possible exposure from some big name in the greater internet community. The game isn't past its due date, necessarily, but I don't see the game growing from here, at least as I write.

So, that's my two cents; apologies for being a downer here, but I'm just speaking my mind.

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I haven't found any height maps for Atlantis, Last Cave, Ascension Island, or Sky's Rim so if you by any chance have them please message me so I can get them imported into 1.15. :D

From what I remember (correct me if what I'm saying is wrong), the height map for Ascension is identical to that of the old Bonfire, and the height map for Sky's Rim is defaultTerrain.png.

Anyway, thanks for doing this. I (and, going by the thread, and the general reactions to the June update, a lot of people) was really missing the old maps. Especially Bonfire.

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News Archives / Re: // Feral-Heart Game Update June 2016 //
« on: June 09, 2016, 07:13:12 pm »
 :o Oh, wow, this is exciting! I never thought I'd see the day when ol' FeralHeart got a snazzy makeover.

Can't wait to test this out once a proper .exe installer hits the site. I'm not a particularly big fan of torrenting, so I'll wait on this until I get the chance to install.

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Other Mods/Creations / Re: FeralHeart+ : Preview
« on: October 31, 2014, 07:47:07 pm »
Have you made any progress on recovering this? It's been a while since someone's posted.

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