archaeogaming
La Cage aux Folles in Space
Asphodel and its only surviving base have changed between its founding in April 2017 and the Atlas Rises event in August. The Birdcage once shared a planet with other player […]
Asphodel and its only surviving base have changed between its founding in April 2017 and the Atlas Rises event in August. The Birdcage once shared a planet with other player bases, as well as a system densely populated in the Galactic Hub. The update changed all of their names (as scanned from space), and the other bases (including the one on Elysium) have all disappeared. Asphodel itself was a paradise planet when it was discovered in December 2016, and the v1.3 change affected by the patch has made the planet gorgeous in an entirely different and synthetic way.
Anatomy of Asphodel
Planet: Asphodel (appears in system scan as of May 20, 2018, as Likevichnyev)
Base Name: The Birdcage
Discovered/Built by: Planet discovered by RMCCARTY420. Base built by gcderrick.
Legacy Hub (formerly Galactic Hub)
System: HUB8-V-134 Two Edens
Type: “Malfunctioning” planet
Weather: Thirsty Clouds
Sentinels: Low
Flora: Rich. According to the Discoveries log, 17 plant species ( all “common”) were discovered. “Hexagon” “plants” exist on the planet now.
Fauna: Devoid. Also based on the Discoveries log, there is “no planetary fauna,” yet 12 animal species once existed on the planet as displayed in the log itself. All animal species are now extinct.
Economy: Research // Comfortable
Dominant Lifeform: Vy’keen
Conflict Level: Intermittent
Planet Base Coordinates: 0469:0081:0D6C:0135
Portal Coordinates: pie bird dinosaur moon pie face balloon ship shuttle tent ship hexagon. The portal is a 3-hour walk southwest of the base.
Resources (according to the log): Cymatogen, Iridium, Heridium. I found no evidence of cymatogen.
Exterior Temp: Range between 99.7 F, 1.9 Rad, 9.5 Tox (day) and -9.3 F, 1.2 Rad, 3.4 Tox (night)
Storms: none
Length of Day: 1 real-time minute = 45 minutes on Horner. 32 real-time minutes = 1 day on Asphodel.
Sunrise: 0400
Sunset: 2000
Circumference: ca. 10:30 minutes (630 seconds) at 4756u/s = 2,996,280u or ca. 2,996ku
Diameter: ca. 954ku
Volume: 4.55 x 108 u = 455,000,000u
The Earth’s moon has a circumference of: 10,921km (or nearly 4x that of Asphodel)
Waypoints: 9 Waypoints discovered between December 5, 2016, and April 5, 2017:
1 on December 5, 2016 by youngstrizzle (The Galactic Hub reddit began in October(?) 2016.)
2 on March 22, 2017 by youngstrizzle
1 on April 3, 2017 by RMCCARTY420
3 on April 4, 2017 by gcderrick
1 on April 4, 2017 by RMCCARTY420
1 on April 5, 2017 by youngstrizzle
The dates indicate when they were uploaded to the Online Services (Atlas server). Note that the Galactic Hub was founded in October(?) 2016, so this planet was one of the earliest discovered in the Hub region (December 5, 2016).
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Communication Stations
Five communication stations occupy Asphodel, three of which are near the base unit. Of these three, two were left by permanent residents gcderrick and RMCCARTY420, both mentioning abandoning their home(s). Planets could maintain more than one occupied player base, but only this one survives on Asphodel. Other comm balls indicate a visitor collecting resources and a Legacy Heritage marker, which would have been placed after abandonment by the Hub’s executive, Conor, who has been revisiting old Hub structures. The fifth comm station hovers in the clouds and indicates the elevated location of a structure—now absent—containing a rare mining tool.
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| No. | Color | Placed By | Text | Note |
| 1 | orange | gcderrick | This was once my home… | |
| 2 | orange | RMCCARTY420 | I’m leaving to migrate to the next hub. RM | |
| 3 | orange | Dudu_magliano | I was here. 08/15/17. I picked your plants | |
| 4 | white w blue trim | Syn1134 | This is a documented Legacy Heritage Site. | On overlook |
| 5 | orange | unknown | Class A rifle inside | Floating |
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Landscape
Asphodel is the first tessellated world I have come across. As of May 20, 2018 (an artifact of the Atlas Rises universal reset on August 11, 2017), the entire planet is covered in hexagonal tiles reminiscent of Ireland’s Giants’ Causeway. Even the trees and bushes are tiled in this fashion, their hexagonal leaves iridescent in the sun under a purple dawn sky. Waving, bioluminescent yellow tendrils drop from canopies of giant, floating trees. Occasionally the white tessellated, rolling hills give way to proper rock in the form of suspended, lava-red tubes. I dug a test pit to see if the rock would give way to tile, but could not determine where the rock ended and the tile began. The matrix was always a mix of both, even several meters below the surface. Gold and blue tiles occasionally break up the marble-like beauty of the hexagonal carpet, adding random dots of color and texture. The surface appears to be a work-in-progress, because at the edges of fields of tile, some of the tiles float a few centimeters above the surface. Craggy mountains loom in the distance.
I was able to find video of Asphodel from April 11, 2017, shot by Zaz Ariins, which shows a lush, paradise planet of green grass and hardwood trees with plenty of water and wildlife. The topography remains similar between then and now with mountains and suspended lava tubes (once purple, now red).
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Base Description
As of May 20, 2018, the base is oriented from along a southeast-northwest axis with a central base unit, bi-level hydroponic warehouse, sleep-space, and two geobays. Communication stations found at the base indicate that it remains in its original location. From the landing pad: connected to the northeast is a circular room fitted with a bed, an exhaust fan, and a save-point. A holographic door opens to the southeast leading down a ramp and walkway flanked by seven flags sporting red-orange and blue trim, a white center, and cream end containing an ensign of a black circle over which a white triangle with three trailing white lines are superimposed. The ramp bypasses two geobays on the left, the near one for a Roamer exocraft, and the far one for a Nomad.
The walkway turns west to enter the base unit with the ID of “The Birdcage.” A Vy’keen blueprint vendor waits somewhat impatiently. Two other doors pierce the base unit, one opening onto Asphodel to the southwest, and another leading down a hall to the southeast. At the end of the hall is a room with 28 hydroponic trays filled with Albumen Pearl Orbs. On the southwest wall is a decorative health station. To its right is an active Trade Terminal, Data Store D/I19/Z-084. Another door exits to Asphodel to the west.
The eastern wall is divided by a staircase leading up to a second level of 24 hydroponic trays, but 13 are empty. The other 11 contain mature NipNip Buds.
An Atlas diamond decal is affixed to the wall to the northeast.
Returning to the landing pad, a door to the southwest opens to a glass hallway curving to the right. The hallway terminates in a staircase leading down into a rectangular room filled with two levels of decorative Trade Terminals in different colors (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, gray), four terminals per level.
Note that the build has changed significantly between April 2017 and May 2018, with one hydroponic dome converted to a sleeping area, the other removed entirely. The vast warehouse of NipNip Buds is also gone, replaced by the bi-level structure containing mostly pearls. The flags were added later, possibly post-v1.3, something that might reflect the color scheme of the new, “malfunctioning” world. The place is beautiful and desolate, the climate kind to Travellers and Interlopers alike.
—Andrew Reinhard, Archaeogaming
Archaeogaming
Archaeogaming is a collective of gamers who are interested in applying archaeological methods while exploring game-worlds. We are interested in the evolution of gaming worlds and in the use of archaeology while in-game. Archaeogaming was founded by Andrew Reinhard on June 9, 2013.
