Metaroom Showcase: Garbage Dump Games KittyTikara | 12/9/2014 | | A showcase by Kezune, telling us why the Garbage Dump is still an interesting room. Submitted for CCSF 2014
What I like
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Welcome to the Garbage Dump and what a "welcoming" room it is. Gross, toxic theme aside, it's certainly easy on the eyes. The clean sprites match the original game's graphics to a T and it almost seems like it should have shipped with the Toxic Norns. Besides that, there are a plethora of static plants and mosses growing in the background that give the room the illusion of being very full. The 'real' plants and animals also seem to fit in just fine and nothing really seems out of place. It's all quite convincing.
Speaking of those Toxic Norns, this is probably the only room I've ever had success raising more than one generation in. The lack of harmful 'healthy' foods and agents helps keep the room a nice, safe haven and is probably the most helpful tool in teaching a Toxic-breed newbie like myself what to look for to keep my little Toxic babies happy. When you start, there's plenty of detritus to go around but you should keep an eye out since, given Norns' ravenous appetites, you won't be enjoying the room's splendor for very long.
The room is interactive and includes a small gated area with a small fresh water pond. I generally use this as a small gadget and egg storage area but I imagine if you had toxic, aquatic breeds this could be a, er, small breathing pool for them. It seems like a small touch but here's something that I really enjoy - the big burping thing in the middle. Even using the tool tip doesn't reveal much more than the fact that it's called a "Trash Eater". It's helpful in that you can take the trash from the trash can and convert it to 'pellets' of biodegradable food for your Toxic creatures. Something about making a room more interactive is attractive to me. I guess I just like being more involved in my Creature's lives.
What I don't like
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As lovely as this room is, though, I have exactly one complaint - it's too darned small! It's even smaller than it looks! If you play for even a short time, you'll notice that there are only two areas that can safely be used by land-bound creatures. The pond on the left is a waste of space if you don't have toxic, aquatic creatures! Above that, there's a moon graphic that serves no purpose and then, to the right of that, there's just a big bubble of air! It's totally useless.
Once you realize how small this room is, you might also realize that, even though the room gives the illusion of fullness, it's just that - an illusion. It doesn't take long for the food to run out if you have even one creature and once it does run out, creatures can't rely on the room itself to feed them. The Trump Stumps are only a seasonal source of food and shouldn't be relied on and the creatures can't use the Trash Can and Trash Eater to make more food. If they could, they really aren't smart enough to learn how. The only way I've found to keep them happy is to use the dung that comes with the Plant Norns and other 'food' agents that come with the Toxic norns. Cack in a Box and the Macrobacteria come to mind.
Why I picked it
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That last part probably sounded pretty bad but, actually, I don't think this room is too bad. It's not as good as I remember, but I guess that's what nostalgia can do. It's certainly got a lot of potential and I still stand by the good points that I made about it. The truth is, this room (and toxic creatures as a whole) aren't something that I hear about anymore. It's just nice to deviate from the norm and try out new(or old) things once in a while. |
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