Akkara City

The Temples of the Gods, the centerpiece of the city.

Rhyvin

TraktorMC (formerly)

**Akkara City**, or simply **Akkara**, was a major settlement on the Survival 2 world and considered to be one of the largest cities on the server. The city was based on the ruins of an ancient Mayan settlement long abandoned but later rediscovered by European colonials, giving the city a unique blend of Colonial and Aztec architecture.

## Proposal & Planning

Following the announcement that a new Survival world would be launching in September, *William278*, the founder and mayor of Lackria City on Survival 1 at the time suggested to his in-game neighbor *LAK3RS,* who was a server pioneer and accomplished builder the idea of collaborating to create a unique city combining their skills in the new world. *LAK3RS* loved this idea and planning began for the city.

The original idea for the city was to create a large mountain structure and layer the city around the mountainside, with different sectors of the city housing different buildings. It was soon decided to build three large temples in the center to further flesh out the lore of the area and the Mayan/Aztec theme came from this initial plan.

### Name

It was initially proposed by William278 to call the city '*Uxtrakala*', a portmanteau of ancient Mayan settlements '*Uxtrak*' and '*Akala*' however this name was deemed too long and was later shortened to '*Akkara*'; the final name of the city. It was at this time where *TraktorMC,* former Lackria co-mayor was invited to work with the two.

## Construction

Construction on *Akkara* began on the 2nd of September, 2017, on the first day of the new Survival 2 world. The original plan for the city was to terraform a large plains biome relatively close to spawn into the city, however at the last minute it was decided to build the city at 0, 0 and the three landed their boats on the area today known as *Laker's Landed*.

Construction took six months, from start to finish and the opening of the city was delayed several times. The main factor cited for the delays was the extensive terraforming work that was required to turn the hilly terrain into the final area present today. Several features of the original generated geometry were kept, however, such as the cove and island shape of the *Harbor District*.

On the 28th of March, 2018, it was announced that Akkara would open in a full-day event on the 28th of April - One month from the announcement. In the month between the announcement, the city was completed ready for the occasion.

## Opening

### Main Article: *Akkara City Opening Day Event*

One week prior the opening event, the Akkara mayors worked with the Cyberdog Events Committee to make final preparations for the event. The itinerary for the day was also solidified and the final work for the events was planned (on the right).

One day before the event, it was confirmed that ReNDoG would make a guest appearance during the day. The official opening of the city was led by William278 and Akkara City was officially opened by the mayor to the public at 3PM BST on the *28th of April, 2018* from the city's station. Twelve hours of events would follow with *Ren* streaming a live tour of the server on Twitch at *11PM BST* later that night followed by celebratory UHC games. The ceremonies concluded with a closing speech and prizes were handed out for the various competitions.

## Build Style

Akkara adopted a Colonial/Tudor style of construction, with an emphasis on stone and wood-based buildings to complement the historic Mayan structures. As a result, many players have named Akkara as the 'Stone City'. In an effort to increase visual variety, the city encourages the use of green foliage to add color to builds.

In addition to this effort, different districts within the city have differing build codes, offering builders different challenges when constructing their homes. For example, *The Ridge* district in Akkara offers builders diagonal plots.

## Leadership

Akkara City was led by the three Mayors; LAK3RS, the Mayor for building; William278, the Mayor for management and Rhyvin, the Mayor of Redstone. Following a large period of inactivity, the decision was made to remove TraktorMC and on the 14th of May, 2018, Rhyvin was appointed the new position of Mayor instead.

In addition to this, Akkara had *District Managers* for it's Districts. Currently, the city employs two; *\_gewoon\_iemand\_*, who manages Akkara Heights and the Woodland District as well as *Brogaman*, the manager for East Akkara, the Southern Peninsula and Northside Valley.

## Districts and Buildings

Akkara City was divided into thirteen districts, with each district having its own variant on the city building code and regulations. Every district had a letter-code used for plot identification as plots were assigned a plot number and district code for organization.

Not every district had plots available, though. Districts such as *Laker's Landing* and *Ancient Akkara* for example were reserved for special builds only. The district system led some players to become attracted to their home district with players often purchasing multiple plots in a district, as was notable in *East Akkara* and the *Northside Valley* with *wiki\_1000* and *Brogaman*.

### Notable Builds

Akkara housed many notable builds and locations on the Survival 2 world.

* The aforementioned *Temples of the Gods* that acted as the centerpiece of the city. The temples were positioned high and central in the city to make them visible from all angles reminding players of the central theme.
* The City Hall housed a grand underground creeper farm complex, notable for being one of the largest in the world. It's external facade was completed but plans to decorate the interior for the mayors were never carried out.
* The Akkara Hub was an underground complex that provided facilities for residents, including a wide array of farms and storage lockers for every plot. Farms included:
	+ Wheat, carrot and potato farms
	+ A concrete converter.
	+ A sugarcane farm.
	+ A cactus farm.
	+ Cocoa bean farm.
	+ Triple cave spider farm (accessible through a different way)
	+ Wood farms; catering for all types of trees including 2x2 and 1x1 areas.
* The *Gabby Theatre*, a special attraction accessible from the *Akkara Hub* that housed a redstone note block song rendition of *"Mumbo Jumbo you are AFK!"*. The particular song on display was based on the remix by ElyBeatmaker.
* A grand *Spleef Arena* to the back of the city held occasional spleef games on the server. This arena was used as a basis for the setting up of the Dogcraft Spleef League subsequently in Survival 3.
* Akkara Station served as the backdrop to the city at the foot of the *Northside Valley* district, connecting to the Survival Railway Network on Survival 2. The station was a grand, grey build inspired by stations built during the Industrial Revolution. Akkara Station also served as the cities' connection to the Nether Transport Network.
* Headquarters for the *Cyberdog Newsletter*.

## Closure

As with the rest of the Survival 2 world, Akkara City closed on the 20th of October, 2018 to make way for Survival 3 and the update to *Minecraft 1.13: The Update Aquatic*. Many world downloads were taken of the city preserving it in its final state on that day. The rush to create plans for a new world left the mayors unprepared as there were still many plans for the city that were never completed.

A large PvP arena to the east of the city was planned to hold battles and was never completed. The City Hall was also never completed, with only the external facade complete at the end of the server. Even the *Temples of the Gods* were never finished internally, despite being the centerpiece of the city, with only the external appearance complete. Ultimately, the mayors would announce the Deliverance project that would be the successor to their efforts in Akkara.

## References

1. ↑ Source: Mayan Heritage (*Written Book*)
2. ↑ Source: Archived discord conversations.
3. ↑ Source: William278 & Lakers
4. ↑ Source: Discord announcements.
5. ↑ Source: Akkara build guide.
6. ↑ Source: Discord post.