Subterranean Homesick Blues

Ok so I tried to post this thread yesterday but due to a browser refresh my post vanished before my eyes. It must have been the wiretap ordered by the DA..
I digress. So I've bought one of those village split level stone & timber basements from the addon store and was keen to try one out ingame. It took me most of the weekend to save for a plot and I've been working away interstate for a few days so haven't had much time to try any proper decoration yet.
My first impression, apart from the inability to place items on the floor in some areas (as raised by Duke Raas here), is the serious feeling of disconnect brought about by having to reload the scene every time I enter / leave my basement. I'm glad I was able to get a plot in Kingsport, I can only imagine the current load times for Owl's Head or Ardoris being a nightmare for basement usage. Rather than feeling like an extension of my living space, if I have to see a loading screen every time I want to climb that ladder / straircase, I think basements may well end up being rarely visited junk horde cellars full of dusty old furniture covered in sheets much like some of the undead dungeon rooms in UO.
I am really hoping that in the optimisations for the final release, the game will be able to cache or preload the content for all basements a player has permissions for in a given hex.

If that doesn't happen, every time we open that hatch-

 

The only solution i see is to reduce the load time to get into the basement. Maybe if you enter a home the game should preload the basement scene so when you decide to enter it it would feel instantaneous.

 

I find the opposite direction being the problem.

My machine is quite quick at loading the basement itself, so getting in is no problem.

However, when you exit one must load the City scene, which can be a pain if you are say using Ardoris as your home-base.

 

I agree, loading basements is pretty quick, but exiting them is not.


After checking a few other placed basements around town, it seems to me that the floor plan of the 2 level village stone & timber basement (STB) is strangely inconsistent with the 5 level STB versions of either the row, village or town size. I don't know what's up with the lower level sunken floor area and partially walled back room. Apart from the placement issue, I think these 2 areas could just as well continue with the open plan theme rather than add extra random detail only to the 2 level version. Not a big deal obviously, I just wonder if the 2 level version is a legacy older design that was changed later for the 5 level version - this could explain the floors not accepting items.

 

I agree with your statement. I have had a problem placing items on the second level of my 2 story village stone and Timber basements. In the step down area,and the room behind the door.I cant place anything in those 2 places.