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Klamman and aaronstone4real brought me to a place that was unlike anything I’d ever seen on ROBLOX before. KlamKnights City is filled to the brim with creativity, and looks like a whacky, gigantic theme park from afar. This is not an insult–to the contrary. The reason each section of the city looks different is because each of the sections were built by different users. Klamman and aaronestone4real are selling digital “plots” of land, and encouraging buyers to build big. I got the chance to chat with the two of them about the creation and the future of their massive virtual world.
This “land plot” system is what initially piqued my interest–but I grew more intrigued after I paid the place a visit and looked at all the marvelous and unique creations. I was equally startled by the sheer size of the place. I’d try to explain the scope of it all, but sometimes pictures speak more concisely than words.
![klamknightswide](https://blog.roblox.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/klamknightswide.png)
Just for a frame of reference, see that tiny black spot in the middle-left of the image? Yeah, that's me. Place is huge.
“The whole point of building KlamKnights City was to allow people to express their creativity through building,” recalls aaronstone4real. “As the place began to grow, we noticed more lag, particularly on lower-end machines. We wanted everyone to be able to experience the level, so we came to the conclusion that terrain and voxels were the best way to go,” adds klamman.
The two enthusiastic users go on to tell me that KlamKnights City launched shortly after ROBLOX’s release of Personal Build Servers in 2011. After several iterations, the two had decided on a few overall rules of thumb for KlamKnight City: all terrain, all voxels, and only the biggest and most creative structures.
“We are constantly amazed at how builders are utilizing voxels,” says aaronstone4real. “They’re building things I could never even imagine.”
As with many large-scale and ambitious ideas in ROBLOX, KlamKnights City was a group effort. The KlamKnights are an emerging group dedicated to being a unique entity on ROBLOX–their focus is on innovation, according to Klamman and aaronstone4real, who are two of the founding members. The KlamKnights Group page proudly declares, “We are like no other group before, built on innovation, kindness, and awesome members.”
“The purpose of the group was to build a strong community,” says Klamman. “We didn’t want to create a group that just focused on one major thing. That’s boring.”
In order to own an exclusive virtual “plot” of land, you’ve got to join the KlamKnights, and rank your way up by being active in the community. This can be done in a number of ways, such as commenting on the groups’ wall, participating in training exercises, or leaving comments related to the groups’ activities. Each of these earn you points that can eventually get you to the “Normal Knight” tier, where you’re then eligible to purchase a plot of land in KlamKnights City.
Today, klamman and aaronstone4real have implemented dynamic lighting into their game, and it looks phenomenal. Roads are lit up, ponds and streams have a faint glow, and the insides of the some of the structures feature some stark and dramatic lighting. We’re beginning to notice subtle nuances with our dynamic lighting system as well, like the simplistic beauty of sunlight filtering through long and shadowed columns.
When asked about the future of this remarkable place, both users jokingly boasted that with the inclusion of dynamic lighting, the future is already here. Yet, there’s more to come.
The two builders want to utilize our recently released in-game purchasing API so group members can buy plots of land inside their server, in real time. They want to continue to explore the possibilities of dynamic lighting. They want their group to grow, and for other projects to take off (for example, members of the group recently released KlamBall, a sports game). “We want to do big things that most people probably wouldn’t expect,” they tell me.
“We’re planning new and even more innovative places, and a wider range of ways for KlamKnights to interact with one another,” says klamman. “We want to make our group bigger and even more innovative than ever before.”
Oh, and if aaronstone4real is reading this? I have to say, you’ve got impeccable style.