 | |
| Fortress Moon | |
|---|---|
| Type | Structure |
| Color | Orange, gray, blue |
| Conquerable | No |
| Playable Team | No |
| Gravity | 0-0.5g |
| Special Property | Citadel |
The Fortress Moon, also referred to as the Avalos Federation Fortress Moon, was a planetary-class megastructure primarily built by jeditto, fish_ermann, GroverBoy2025, and CANIBUS. With several other players such as Progamer54608, p1yhm, and hipeeples15 making minor contributions toward the project. The superstructure itself was a truncated cuboctahedron with a diameter spanning roughly 2240 studs that encircled the entirety of the moon of Avalos, Toraphan, with its construction taking place over nearly two days.
The structure contained entrances located upon each of it’s main faces with access tunnels that bore deep into the moon’s surface, connecting to localized landing pads within the atmosphere. Within the moon, sprawling roads that extended from the landing areas lead upwards to the center of the planet where a massive citadel stood towering over the land below. The citadel was enigmatic in nature, and was often subject to strange occurrences with it. At one point, the citadel harbored squids from Havalu, taking on the nickname "The Temple of the Squids." This is, most likely, the origin of the Temple of the One True Squid.
Building process
Drafting phase
The megastructure was originally planned as a Dyson sphere that would encase the entirety of the Sun located at the center of the solar system. The idea received a mixed reception from the community, with many asserting that the sun was simply too massive of a body to be practically built around. The assumptions proved to be well founded however, as shortly after the build began, main builders Jeditto and Fish_ermann decided to scrap the initial idea of the Dyson sphere and move the structure to Toraphan, as its smaller size was vastly more manageable to work with. Additionally, the lack of a dedicated build team made it difficult to cover a large amount of ground, making the building process tediously slow.
Building phase
The project began construction on 4/23/2022 at 10 AM CST, with the build concluding shortly after midnight on 4/25/2022. The first platform was completed above the moon's surface and served as the top of the structure as well as a base to launch the rest of the build from. Following this, the sides and connectors were constructed along with the bottom platform completing the basic frame of the fortress. Once all remaining empty spaces on the frame had been filled in, work began on the interior of the structure with access shafts that led into the moon being constructed and detailed. After completion of the entrances and connected landing pads the planetside citadel was devised last with construction being finalized shortly after its completion.
Complications and griefers
Despite having been scaled down from its ambitious initial concept, the building of such a large structure proved incredibly difficult with its construction and workers being plagued by a myriad of issues. Among these were the effects of the zero gravity environment and lack of suitable platforms to stand on, with precise travel on the construction site being limited exclusively to slow floating blocks manually manipulated by the worker’s build tools. In addition to the slow and tedious movement around the structure, the fortress would often be cast in shadow due to the way the game handles night and day cycles, resulting in the process of aligning blocks equally becoming exponentially more difficult to judge thereby compounding and already lengthy construction.
In addition to environmental restrictions, issues were also compounded by unintelligent players and potential griefers that the build team were forced to contain and discipline. The most notable instance of dissent was the introduction of a player known as CorruptPeace, whose name was a parody of famous player and admin CorruptFight. The griefer promptly began causing general problems, escalating to killing the builders and managing to cause minor amounts of damage to the build before being removed from the game.
Lore
During the course of the build, CorruptFight began smuggling squids from Havalu which quickly became idolized and highly sought after. After relocation to the fortress, several squids became augmented against their will, with armored plating being grafted onto the entirety of their bodies. Along with the plate modifications, the squids were also outfitted with seats and could be subsequently mounted and ridden using a grappling hook. Several slave mounts were created along with “squid-buses” which were outfitted with several seats to allow the transport of multiple fighters. The new mounts quickly grew in popularity and the occupants of the fortress all sought to purchase one for their own means. The now weaponized squids were also sold for a variety of prices, ranging from 500 to 1000 RUs, dictated by their color and rarity, with a forum to trade and bid on newly smuggled squids quickly forming, marking the beginning of the squid trade. It is to be noted one of the squids met a tragic end by Jeditto, and an investigation was launched. Though many debated the moral implications of the growing market and the practice of the trade itself, concerns were quickly forgotten nearly as fast as they came with the squid trade remaining a popular staple of the fortress until its destruction.
Legacy
Following all great structures that had come before it, The Fortress Moon would inevitably meet its end one way or another. Knowing this fact, the build team unanimously decided to dismantle the fortress after a celebratory party. After an initial battle that took place inside the fortress a large portion had been destroyed with most of the participants departing to await the next great project leaving the last remaining contributor, p1yhm, to completely dismantle the structure over the course of an hour, erasing it completely.
It is suggested from the evidence available that, the builders of the Fortress Moon had revived an ancient squid religion originating from Havalu after they "heard a voice from God", commanding them to spread across the Cocoa System like a "dandelion dispersing its seeds into the wind."
The completion of the Fortress Moon serves as a testament not only to its builders and contributors, who dedicated their time and effort over the course several days to realize its creation, but also to the character of the Solar Conquest community and the game itself. Having been conceptualized many years ago, Solar Conquest continues to provide players with a simple yet expansive experience that allows players to come together to create stories and form truly wonderful pieces of art, offering a taste of the classic Roblox that many believe has been lost on the platform.
The community frequently debated during its build whether it was bigger than the cube. However, jeditto insists that the community shouldn't focus on this, and the two builds should be appreciated in their own respects.
Trivia
Solar Conquest II: Avalos Federation Fortress Moon (Finished) - YouTube
Roughly 8-10 squids were delivered from Havalu to the citadel. One of the 3 rare red squids had tragically met its demise, only leaving behind its armor.
The majority of the build was actually created using 64 by 64 squares; these squares were the base form of measurement, and they came together to create massive 7 by 7 squares, which was the secondary, larger form of measurement used.
One of the squids managed to escape the citadel tower, finding itself trapped below the planet on the bottom face of the structure. There was an attempt to bring this squid back, which succeeded in the end.
Another squid demonstrated a level of godly power, teleporting the five players who were riding upon it to Havalu, where it plunged into the ocean and began stripping itself of the armor surgically implanted in its flesh.