Goatswood

Are you the perfect Victorian? If so, take a stroll in Goatswood, the spectacular new sim created by eDream Factory (Kora Zenkova and Baal Zobel) that opened last month, branded as "a Victorian Gothic novel waiting to happen." This richly textured town, which the creators note is modeled loosely after Castle Combe, a village in Wiltshire, dazzles the eyes with its finely wrought detail and subtle color palette—a mixture of browns and dark greens in which the foliage can intermingle with the pathways, low stone walls and buildings.

This is a serious roleplay sim, but visitors are very welcome and can obtain a three-day pass at the train station at the entrance. It's even possible to rent a cottage or other location here without joining in the roleplay, although I suspect most who rent would partake in the activities. In exploring Goatswood, one cannot help but feel that there's more under the surface, something dark and mysterious, perhaps a sense of veiled evil or foreboding. It's a world of light and shadows, a town with hidden pathways. And there are places dotting the edge of the town, such as Phoebe's Wheel, a Stonehenge-like place clearly associated with rituals, that suggest something unusual might be happening in Goatswood. The creators invite you to discover as you explore: here and there you can pick up a notecard with some background information about specific locations.

There isn't a fixed or recommended windlight setting in Goatswood, but darker or foggy settings strike me as the best, a world in twilight where one isn't quite certain what lies in the shadows. (But almost anything looks amazing.) Like Venexia—developed by the same creators—tremendous care was taken to summon a mood, and with great success. Click to zoom in on any of the images—I'll post some to my flickr stream as well.