ABOUT MERIDIAN 59: Familiars of Tos

Familiars reworked at players' request
There is a sentimental connection to the original Familiars map file. There’s a sentimental connection to its hometown of Tos. Tos was the first city in the game and Familiars, the first pub. People felt that the new version, introduced in the Renaissance expansion, just wasn’t the same. Although the textures of the new Familiars were much nicer, many people felt the place to be too small and cramped. The newer file also lost the tactical advantage of having two exits. It was much easier to attack players exiting the bar when they knew the victim would have to come out of the only exit. With that we set about solving these problems.

First we loaded up the old Familiars. Yep, nice and roomy. But really, it’s pretty ugly. We did notice many people saying the same thing on the Official Meridian 59 Forums. So the decision was made to create a new Familiars that used the new textures but was roomy and had more tactical interest. Q set to task.

The old Tos file loaded up for comparison

On the outside of the new Tos the building was shaped well for two exits. Doors were placed on the South and West sides of the building. The middle area where the front door was in the Renaissance version was dressed up with a little garden area. Another thing people seem to like about the old Tos was the alleyway battles. With that in mind a THIRD exit was placed in the back of the building leading out to the alley. Hey, Paddock needs to throw out his trash right? Hehe

View of the map file of the outside of the new Familiars The lines coming out of the South and West walls show the signs next to the doors

The new Southern exit at night

A small garden area replaces where Renaissance version had a door

The new Western exit

An alleyway exit could make for some interesting battles!

Playtesting will decide how well the new Familiars and Tos work together. Tos remains the most visited city and people can always be found in Familiars. Hopefully the changes to everyone’s favorite pub will be well received.