Second Life

Recently, a friend of mine posted a blog entry praising my blog and my dedication to the subject of trees within the virtual community, and I was struck by the image he used as an introduction to my blog, this one:

At first glance I thought that this oak tree was one of many rendered by an eminent tree-lover and video game designer working for Maxis - he later went on to design mountains at SCE and will therefore not be referred to by name for security reasons - during the early 90s, but after looking up the filename of the image I found out that it was in fact a rendering done in the game of Second Life and was originally posted here.

Apparently this community only came into being 2007, a full 12 years after the early 90s had come to a close! What a disgrace for those of us passionate about trees and tree-design, that this sort of outdated design model is still allowed to exist in this day and age.

Now, I myself had never given a thought to Second Life, for I am far too busy with my first life, what with work, train schedules and writing a blog on virtual trees. But it was this injustice done to an oak tree, and the almost jejune manner in which it was committed that prompted me to examine the game.

Another image was posted on the very same website:

Now, I’m not sure about you, but had they not specifically written those were oaks, I would not have been able to guess. The game’s website is unhelpful at best, and is festooned with all sorts of facts completely irrelevant to virtual dendrology.

Some further injustices:

And not only is this small pine clearly suffering nutritional deficiencies, they’ve barely bothered to render the holiday lights, let alone the needles:

And this next one, frankly, has rendered me speechless:

It is at this point where I would review the game according to stringent categories, but I find myself unable to formulate a grade that doesn’t involve a single digit zero. So, I am saddened to announce the first ever no-star review in the history of this blog.

For shame, Linden Research, for as we have all learned through the years, you cannot increase technological inclusion at the expense of virtual flora.

Age of Empires II: The Conquerors

Though perhaps a bit similar to its predecessor in terms of game-play to be truly revolutionary, Age of Empires II falls nothing short of masterpiece designation in isometric form. I have enjoyed the game’s representation of foliage since its release in 1999, and that of its expansion in 2000. This is a game in which trees and their product ‘wood’ are a major part of game-play. Indeed, wood is a centerpiece in the game and is required in almost every scenario.

One can see wood designated by the meticulously crafted piece of lumber, taking the primary position, prior to food, stone and other laughable excuses for resources. Wood is required for construction of all buildings, save for the castle and the obviously deficient stone wall; it is therefore the most important resource in the game.

The trees presented in this game, besides serving as the only source of wood, are also obstacles to troop movements. At times, one has to clear entire forests to get troops from one position to another, a process that takes a considerable amount of time, especially if one does not have siege weapons. These combined functions of trees in the game make for a truly integrated “forest experience” and a ‘tree-t’ for tree enthusiasts everywhere.

A note to the tree-huggers: As these are virtual trees, you need not worry about their demise, only the example they set.

In terms of appearance the trees, for their time, are very carefully crafted. Here you see an example of traditional European village forestation during winter.

But the game does not stop there! Indeed, there are representations of trees in rainforests and desert oases too; the former shown here. There are also trees near hills, trees near rivers, you name it.

This brings us to the third criterion in terms of rating, the identifiability of trees. As this game is somewhat older, it had not been exposed to the recent trends of tree enthusiasm during production, and should therefore not be shamed for including absolutely no documentation of trees and the rendering thereof. Despite the lack of documentation, one need only look once to identify the Quercus robur, the Cocos nucifera and the Pinus cembra.

So, a summary:

• Tree Involvement 5/5
• Tree Appearence 4/5
• Tree Identifiability 4/5

With all of this considered, I rate this game at a:

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Empire: Total War

After much hype and much praise from those in the know (Re: PC Gamer), we have finally gotten a glimpse of the much awaited Empire: Total War. For the ignorant among you, the Total War series consists of hybrid tactical/strategic games set in various periods in history; the newest game takes place during the 18th and 19th centuries and allows one to take command of any of the relevant world powers during that period. However, is the 94% rating from PC Gamer a rating Empire is worthy of?

First and foremost trees serve as merely a backdrop to the actual game, and do not take any active role in game or storyline development. They can often become obstacles for armies, but only minor ones; the trees, therefore, serve no purpose but that of ornaments. Naturally, we cannot expect a game about imperial warfare to involve trees to a great extent, but we could at the very least expect the trees to be identifiable. The game comes with absolutely no documentation concerning the trees rendered, nor does it give any statistics in terms of polygon count of the trees.

Indeed, if one were to look at this picture, they could not possibly figure out what those trees were, especially not from a distance. This is due to, not only low polygon count, but a serious lack of care for the tree appreciation community by the game's designers. Through careful observation, I have determined the trees in the distance are of the family Pinaceae, but of their Genus, I know not.

Summary:

• Tree Involvement 2/5
• Tree Appearence 1/5
• Tree Identifiability 1/5

Taking into account a lack of documentation, along with gross under-design of trees in this game, I award it:

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Next week, an examination of http://www.treegames.net: are they truly what they seem?