Test of the Sarcophagus
Many archaeological digs have found elaborate sarcophagi of long-dead rulers, such as the the Sarcophagus of Tutankhamen. This test will pit your artistic knowledge against that of those pharaohs, so you can achieve a place in the annals of mankind (or grave-robbed, as the case may be).
The Creation of the Sarcophagus
The sarcophagus is built in a four-step process. Each of these steps rely somewhat on the value of materials used. The test can use materials that are traded for or gathered yourself, but the workmanship must be your own.
- The first step is to create the base. This can be made from a number of cuttable stones, cuttable gems, or marble, but not of multiple types. This will affect the color and pattern of the base. The quantity of item used will affect the height of the Sarcophagus (so expensive sarcophagi will often be smaller).
- Then you have to create the lid. This is done on an anvil with different qualities of workmanship. The blacksmithing must be done by your hand, but others can supervise and give hints. The metal used will affect how many strikes you can make before the object is finished, but the quality of the object is what is critically important.
- Then you have to create the inlay for the lid. This uses cuttable gems and metal foil and paint to create dramatic patterns. Other gems can be used here, such as diamond or topaz, to add accents. The number of materials you can use is equal to 1+(Quality/1000). Thus, a quality 2287 lid can use 3 different materials (copper sheeting, red paint, and cuttable turquoise, for instance).
- The Sarcophagus is now finished. The next step is to open the sarcophagus up for judging. This is a continual process, similar to the Test of the Prismatic Opticon.
Scoring
Scoring is done based on the judgements of people who view the sarcophagus. These judgements have a variety of values, like the Initiation of Thought test. The person with the highest values wins for that week.
Suggestions for the Principle
- Form a base from 5 or more units of stone.
- Form a lid with a quality of 4000 or higher.
- Decorate the lid.
- Open the sarcophagus for viewing.
- Achieve 15 votes of good or higher.
Feedback/Opinions/Questions
Post your thoughts here.
- It sounds cool, but I wonder how much control the game interface would really give us over our art? Would ones made from the same mats end up looking alike? Obviously they must all be unique for an art test. It sure fits the game concept (Ancient Egypt) though. :) ~Shivani
- Maybe the interface for the lid could be somewhat like that of a mosaic, with a grid. Spaces in the grid could be filled by metal foil or paint, and gems could be placed at intersections. When the lid is complete, the grid itself should not be visible though. -Meidori
- I was thinking something along those lines, Meidori, but I left it vague so the devs could fill it in with the logical extent of the engine. The grid idea is nice, especially in it's similarity to the Mosaic. We should be able to cut the 'pieces' and fit them where we want them. If I wanted my lid to look like the lid of Tutenkhamen, it would require a lot of gold foil and blue paint, and even then it could be different. ~Hyksos