Wow. I have been so busy these past several weeks. I did some ads for my mom, attended a party with my nephew (yes, Big Brother now has a son), finished two pieces of mind-numbing schoolwork, had my PC's RAM upgraded to 12 GB (because NVIDIA RTX Voice is pushing my RAM dangerously close to 8 GB, causing lag in fights), and...uh, configuring my new smartphone 'cause my old one is too slow even for my usual work apps like Facebook and Google Chrome.
And that's not to mention grinding in Genshin Impact.
Speaking of Genshin Impact, yes, I'm still somewhat obsessed with appealing to potential gamer girls, so for roleplay purposes (basically, I'm playing with the idea that little girls enjoy playing with dolls by making them chat with each other), I'm gathering resources to raise my C6 Xingqiu to Lv. 80+ with Lv. 9+3 Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst. (I'm not raising Sucrose for now and Tartaglia is already double-crowned with a Lv. 9+1 Normal Attack.)
And I know games like The Sims are popular with girls, so I got some motivation to take building my Serenitea Pot seriously with absolutely no "random bullshit go!"
So, without further ado, let's dive in:
Realm Layout: Silken Courtyard (Inazuma-themed)
In retrospect, I could've chosen Cool Isle (the beach resort-themed layout) because I prefer beaches over Japanese-style landscapes, but I guess now, I could defend my choice of the Silken Courtyard because, #1, I'm learning more about Japan; #2, a lot of Inazuma furnishings are suitable for military camps; #3, I'm guessing many girls are weebs.
Kasumi Shoal
I designed this to be a proper entrance to my realm as if travelers are coming from the sea by boat, even though I know for a fact this is the inside of a small teapot. I tried to make it look like a shipyard. Think of that watchtower like a lighthouse.
Players can actually enter from anywhere they like given that I put Sub-Space Waypoints all over the place mainly so they can reach the Teapot Traveling Salesman more easily for extra BP. (Why did miHoYo make that guy so difficult to reach otherwise?)
Aside from the shipyard, I designed Kasumi Shoal to make it feel relaxing in general. This is inspired by how Boracay Island's beachfronts have distant rows of buildings in the background including hotels and restaurants.
When I built this part, I imagined people going into the hot spring, or onsen, while wearing swimsuits. But I should've realized sooner that Japanese people actually go into onsen WHILE FULLY NAKED.
But whatever. This is not true to Japan--this is just my personal design taste.
Boracay combines small businesses with huge ones on its beachfronts, hence the Mondstadt buildings in the background and shops in the foreground. I'm trying to create a sense of hustle and bustle here. It's a shame I can't place generic NPCs here and I've hit my limit of 8 characters who are all in my house.
Madoromi Island
This entire part of my Serenitea Pot is a SkyWars map. Although it's impractical in this game where players can't damage each other, I think it was still fun to do considering I'm a Minecraft player who thinks about that game first when seeing the new floating islands.
This tower that my Yanfei is standing on is much higher than the other islands and can only be reached with a Sub-Space Waypoint. It's designed for spectators.
Yanfei was the announcer and...uh, referee in the Moonchase Festival cookoff between Xiangling and Smiley Yanxiao, hence why I chose her for this SkyWars map.
There are four starting islands since the maximum number of players is four. They are themed after Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and hilichurls.
For the hilichurls specifically, I put a palm tree because, initially, I wanted to make a Golden Apple Archipelago theme. However, a hilichurl theme goes well too thanks to the whole tribal thing.
Notice that each side has a forging table. It's meant to symbolize a crafting table.
miHoYo, when can we get decorative chests? I wanna put some Exquisite Chests on these starting islands.
This is a test run of me playing "SkyWars". In this shot, the opposing player, RamK, shot a Crowfeather to edgeguard my Xingqiu.
I was focused on roleplay, hence my choice of Noelle and Xingqiu.
Sakurazaki Island
I...don't know what to put here yet so right now, it kinda looks like the Red Light, Green Light game from Squid Game.
I didn't take any screenshots because it's not well-built.
Nodoka Terrace
I chose this to be my house's location since it's the highest point in this realm layout, but not by much. It's still something, though.
This part is heavily inspired by Minecraft, hence the defensive wall.
I know multiple watchtowers are impractical because snow golems do no damage, but this is also partially designed for Hytale and I plan to station ranged attackers that are actually competent and capable of inflicting damage or debuffs.
The gate is protected by a snowman guard because, #1, it has a lower load; #2, again, I already got the maximum of 8 companions; #3, there's a stronger ACTUAL person within the walls.
If I could put someone who isn't a snowman regardless of any kind of limit, I would put Fischl. She's an investigator for the Adventurers' Guild, she wields a bow, and I'm a chuunibyou.
The front yard takes the most inspiration from Minecraft thanks to the multiple houses and tents as well as the farm. Diluc is there to tend it as well as be practically unstoppable when my base is breached.
It's also practical when combined with the forge and crafting table because Tubby is always near the player's house. This minimizes wasted time between complete furnishings and plant growth and collection...as long as I can gather the energy to awaken in real life.
miHoYo, can we see our furnishing progress in HoYoLAB?
I took these shots to make them look as if the wall is complete, but it really isn't thanks to the load limit.
House
Main Hall
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| Note: This was taken before I replaced Xingqiu with Sayu. |
The main hall is... honestly kinda basic. This isn't The Sims so I can't spice things up with a TV. (Or can we once we get to the more technologically advanced Snezhnaya or Khaenri'ah? Or even a potential Honkai Impact 3rd crossover since the Golden Apple Archipelago also brought us its own furnishings?)
This place has a lot of sofas because I didn't want to overload the place with beds. When combined with the beds, there are 9 total places to sleep which is still more than enough since I assume some characters do not want to sleep together on the same bed...but I'm sleeping on the same bed with Sucrose.
I specifically chose Thoma to man the booth because he's Inazuma's version of Noelle and he treats the Traveler to multiple meals. He even suggests that as one of his idle quotes! When he's not cooking, he can keep the house clean.
Xiangling, on the other hand, is focused almost solely on cooking.
Barracks
Aside from roleplay, the Serenitea Pot can be used in gameplay to steadily raise characters' Friendship. This room aims to balance the two so I don't just lump everyone into a random place that makes no sense...which I have lazily done before.
I don't want the room to be monotonous and just put beds, so I put a few extra things: bows for self-defense, a nearby bookshelf for quick reading, that Bennett ending of finding treasure to motivate my team, and a coffee table to discuss literature. Okay, it's mainly meant for D&D in my brain.
I may remove furnishings when I get new characters.
For now, it has Barbara to motivate the team through song. Imagine she comes out of that room to occasionally sing for others like Thoma while he's cooking. This also makes this room serve as a "hospital".
And...Barbara is also one of my least used characters. I only use her when my characters are injured and I'm here in the Serenitea Pot. (Can I have Sangonomiya Kokomi so I can heal Co-Op teammates too without being in combat or using an Elemental Burst?)
Storage Room
This room has a lot of different shelves and cabinets to symbolize the stuff I have hoarded in real life.
Interestingly, I put a sofa and mat mainly to be stored, but combined with the bookshelf, this serves as a comfortable secondary living room.
Noelle is here to team up with Thoma and keep the place clean. This is also a great place to store her cleaning tools and spend her spare time reading to review for future Knights of Favonius exams.
Training Room
In games that let the player customize a base to live in (not purely to fight others like in RTS games), I have a habit of putting battle arenas. This room serves as such.
Drums are my favorite musical instrument; I especially love hearing them in rock and battle music. This allows Xinyan to shine.
I know Barbara is there so the music thing is redundant, but Barbara and Xinyan have very different styles of music. The others may get bored of constantly hearing rock music.
The name "Omni-Ubiquity Net" is misleading, if you ask me. This would've been the perfect opportunity to allow the player to capture enemies so they can, for example, keep hilichurls and slimes as pets or use them as training dummies. Players LOVED the Slime Paradise web event.
Corridor
This place isn't very special either. I put the table and flower pot to have a similar vibe to the main menu screen in The Last of Us.
Do NOT pay attention to the folding screen.
Office
This is the most lazily built room in the house, hence why I put Sayu who is bored and tired of setting this room up. I'm not sure how to spice it up further and I'd rather KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!
This is meant to be an office for me and Sucrose.
Bedroom
ah screw it you found this room just don't call the cops on me (intentional bad grammar)
Jokes aside, I know this room isn't actually NSFW, unlike, say, arranging rocks in the shape of a penis.
The folding screen at the entrance is mainly meant to troll visitors who are less familiar with this house's layout--after all, some players still go "random bullshit go!"
And in case they choose to go in anyway, the suits of armor are meant to tell the visitors to "Turn back, mortal!"
This is the only room with an Inazuman bed. I really like the lavender color--I associate it with romance. This also makes it special compared to the Mondstadt beds in the barracks.
I just want to gently wrap my long arm around Sucrose...
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