As it was a job voted to life by the community, we wanted to ensure the Fountain felt grand and celebrated the things that make Powerwash Simulator special. We opted for a huge fountain to ensure we could have large flat surfaces to clean, and players could have fun navigating the multiple layers.
Inevitably when we started to think about the centre statue a gnome was suggested and from there, they became prominent features all around the fountain. They offer a real contrast in complexity to the large flat surfaces and give the Fountain heaps of character too.
The nature of a Fountain allowed us to use some water-based dirt types (such as algae) alongside the moss and lichen that would have grown over much of the stone work. Players will also have to contend with the efforts of a few local graffiti artists while they bring the Fountain back to its former glory!
The fountain's been a long requested community job, and I could have gone with a more traditional looking design, but I wanted something fun for the community. That's where all the little gnome statues come into play! The middle row of gnomes are all the same for navigation reasons, but the bottom ones are where I had fun putting them in various different silly poses.
When designing the fountain, I wanted it all to be as accessible as possible without needing ladders (which are still there for convenience but you can totally skip them!). There's a tiny bit of narrative in there as well, with all the gnomes goofing up in some way in front of the gnome king, who sits atop the fountain.
I also wanted plenty of intricate shapes to wash to keep this job fun, hence all the flourishes and pillars! There's plenty of flat surfaces to wash too which are very satisfying.
The outside environment also got some love, with the recreation grounds getting changed to better fit the fountain. We figured this was okay to do as the job isn't directly related to the main campaign where the other recreation grounds jobs take place.