[RELz/Beta] Elsweyr, the Deserts of Anequina (Thread 4)

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 7:19 am

It probably doesn't need any cat-like stuff in the architecture. I think the feline aspect of the khajiit is actually better handled through NPC personalities and quests.

I like the city exactly how you have made it so far. It feels like a desert culture from somewhere like India or the Middle East which is how the khajiit seem to be described in the books.


Thanks, good to hear!
Some more pics showing the new houses:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune09.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune10.jpg
I thing I'll create two or three additional upper class houses, then I'll move on to clutter (fountains, oriels,..) and then (finally) the palace :-)
User avatar
Nathan Barker
 
Posts: 3554
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 5:55 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 3:51 am

Those upper class Dune houses are looking great mr silka. Dune will look fantastic when they are scattered up a hillside, with stepped alleyways between them.

Talking about Cat like elements to the architecture, how about some raised sleeping/sunbathing platforms? I can imagine a humanoid cat race would retain the feline tendancy to chill out, lying half asleep watching the world go by. Perhaps have some platforms outside houses, protecting from the sun by a canopy, where Khajits spend some of thier free time. Maybe rasied platforms on the roofs of houses, or overhanging the streets.
User avatar
Fluffer
 
Posts: 3489
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:29 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 3:30 am

You never fail to amaze me with your creativity, mr_siika :clap:

Fantastic work once again :goodjob:
User avatar
Manuela Ribeiro Pereira
 
Posts: 3423
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:24 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 3:50 am

I'll track down those rocks if I can. Some have been mentioned before but I could never find them.

I can give you screenshots if you want.

That item in Hzardirr Traders is an antelope horn. It should work because the mesh was included in the upload.
Meshes/Anequina/Clutter/AddaxHorn02.nif

Ah, thanks. I have it, but I somehow missed adding it. And the rest of the meshes in that folder. AND the contents of the Ingredient folder too. :banghead: I honestly don't know how I keep missing all this stuff.
User avatar
saxon
 
Posts: 3376
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:45 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 3:08 am

It will be quite a radical change if you come straight to Dune from Orcrest.
User avatar
Shae Munro
 
Posts: 3443
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:32 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:53 am

I can give you screenshots if you want.
In general, landscape errors are much easier to find if you first open the console and write "tdt" followed by "sdt 0" (which will print cell info onscreen) and then taking a screenshot. That way, they will know the exact position immediately.
User avatar
ANaIs GRelot
 
Posts: 3401
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:19 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 12:00 pm

Thanks for the suggestions! I tried to think of "feline" elements to add to the architecture, but the longer I thought about it the more I realized that there are simply are no feline elements; Cats don't build houses, they don't even live in holes; you can see them in trees from time to time, but that's not really an option for cats living in a desert. I found it easier to create buildings that would suit humans... after all, Khajiit are humanoid (well apart from their heads).
I will, however, keep on trying to add a little "cat"-flavour to it all, perhaps add some public scratch posts orbuild the houses a bit like http://www.catsvillage.de/kratzbaum/images/kb03_blau_creme_96.jpg? The advantage wouldbe that I could just stack "lighter" houses on top of the "heavier" ones (make the upper houses out of wood).

lol - why not? though it would still need that elsweyr touch and more oriental lines.

The thing is that because cats have paws rather than hands it is hard to know what they might favour if they developed a 'human'-creative culture. The things they choose (as with dogs) in a domestic situation may defy easy classification because there may be a 'smell' and even auditory component. That does not mean that general categories of taste are not there. So what do we do? We tend to take a leaf from the look/build, movement and actions of the animal itself. With cats that's predation and, esp with the big cats, flowing lines. We associate them with curiosity ... and so subtlety and/or complication - hence Ja'Kha-jay in-game = the Lunar lattice = Cat's Cradle

The Ancient Egyptians worshiped them because the small wild cats moved into their granaries and killed the mice that were eating all the grain, etc ... so cats = Middle East For the smae reason cats are associated with ships. Although many dislike swimming Tigers love it - so big Cats might want pools in their homes! Esp Sench Tigers!

What is Khajiit nature at home? How would you include fresh meat? Maybe in rich houses or palaces a coraal with prey of various sizes ... etc.

Have you wondered if Khajiit in other Provinces are be there because they are not so happy with the ways of the rich or the common Khajiit back in Elsweyr.

Heh - the corner house is cute - same stuff happpens in places like Chelsea. Do you use a Tileset?
User avatar
Honey Suckle
 
Posts: 3425
Joined: Wed Sep 27, 2006 4:22 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:26 pm

Finished the last houses of the upper tileset.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune11.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune12.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune13.jpg

I'll create a couple if "clutter" meshes now, after that I'll start with the palace.
btw, can anyone help me with that fountain? I tried animating the texture, but I failed :-(
User avatar
Tyrel
 
Posts: 3304
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:52 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 6:12 am

Finished the last houses of the upper tileset.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune11.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune12.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune13.jpg

I'll create a couple if "clutter" meshes now, after that I'll start with the palace.
btw, can anyone help me with that fountain? I tried animating the texture, but I failed :-(


I think only one word could be said....

cool! cool!

COOL! :D
User avatar
Deon Knight
 
Posts: 3363
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:44 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:49 pm

Manoman, those are some lovely alleys.
You can almost smell the bazaar with dark coffee, strong incense and opium tea:).
User avatar
Camden Unglesbee
 
Posts: 3467
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:30 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 3:00 am

those look amazing mr_siika! cant wait for dune!
User avatar
Robert Devlin
 
Posts: 3521
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:19 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 9:04 am

Great work mr_siika :goodjob:
User avatar
D LOpez
 
Posts: 3434
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:30 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 2:58 pm

Is there a large, detailed map that shows which parts of Elsweyr are green and which parts are yellow/orange ? I looked at the colored map but there most is yellow/orange while the Elven Map Redux version has quite a bit of green . And now I'm confused how the actual terrain looks like.

P.S. I'm working on an improved/extended Elven Map Redux version of Elsweyr. :)

-kyoma
User avatar
Spooky Angel
 
Posts: 3500
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:41 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 6:50 am

COOL! :D



Manoman, those are some lovely alleys.



those look amazing mr_siika! cant wait for dune!



Great work mr_siika :goodjob:


Thanks!
Fixed the fountain btw, the textures move now, looks nice!

Iliana, is there a specific reason why there's no LOD for buildings/trees?
User avatar
Laura Ellaby
 
Posts: 3355
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:59 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 4:08 am

Thanks!
Fixed the fountain btw, the textures move now, looks nice!
Iliana, is there a specific reason why there's no LOD for buildings/trees?


Those new buildings are looking fantastic! I love all the different shapes and sizes, and how you've mixed up plain and white-washed wall for variety. The trellaces, colourful cloth awnings and cupolas are very nice touches. :)
I'm glad to hear you got the fountain working.

You need to run TES4LodGen to see the city walls, larger buildings and new speed trees in the LOD. I left out the smaller buildings in the cities though, because they are mostly hidden behind the walls, and would impact badly on the fps if included. The palm trees in the south would also cause a large slow down when rendered LOD. They are included in the RAEVWD version created by Arthmoor though.
Dune could do with alot more _far.nifs though, because the buildings won't be hidden behind high walls.

I can give you screenshots if you want.


That would be good. Its muck easier to find things like that with a screenshot because I have a visual point of reference.

Is there a large, detailed map that shows which parts of Elsweyr are green and which parts are yellow/orange ? I looked at the colored map but there most is yellow/orange while the Elven Map Redux version has quite a bit of green . And now I'm confused how the actual terrain looks like.
P.S. I'm working on an improved/extended Elven Map Redux version of Elsweyr. :)
-kyoma


This is a shot of the Tamriel Elsweyr LOD from above. You can see exactly where the regions are laid out. The transition areas need to be blended though, it looks quite harsh on that scale.

If you want to add some locations beyond the mod, like the Xylo River, and perhaps even mark out where Torval lies. I have mostly followed the coordinates on this map so you could use it as a guide--
http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/cyrodiillargelowrescr7.jpg
The main difference is that Topal Bay has a wider coastline, as it does on the Arena game map, and so Duncori Walk sits on the coast.
User avatar
Laura Ellaby
 
Posts: 3355
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:59 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 3:46 am

This is a shot of the Tamriel Elsweyr LOD from above. You can see exactly where the regions are laid out. The transition areas need to be blended though, it looks quite harsh on that scale.
Cool thanks. Although I already found that one and, as you said, the transitions weren't really great so I wasn't sure how accurate it was with your mod overall. Guess it's a good enough reference. :)

The main difference is that Topal Bay has a wider coastline, as it does on the Arena game map, and so Duncori Walk sits on the coast.
Yes I noticed that, at first I thought the original colored map was incorrect but checking it ingame showed me the map reflected the landscape. Made things a bit odd at first, as almost all maps of Tamriel/other provinces have a much wider landmass at the Topal Bay.

If you want to add some locations beyond the mod, like the Xylo River, and perhaps even mark out where Torval lies. I have mostly followed the coordinates on this map so you could use it as a guide--
http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/cyrodiillargelowrescr7.jpg
I was thinking of that aswell, maybe in a later stage though. I would have to create the southern shore (and the southeast point with Senchal) on the map, I'm a bit hesitant to do that without an ingame reference. Maybe when your great mod has expanded further south....? :angel: Adding Torval would be an option, if I'd have the skill to make a cool new city texture for it. Currently my texturing skills lie somewhere between copy-pasting and blending layers. :P

-kyoma
User avatar
Danel
 
Posts: 3417
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:35 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 2:52 am

In general, landscape errors are much easier to find if you first open the console and write "tdt" followed by "sdt 0" (which will print cell info onscreen) and then taking a screenshot. That way, they will know the exact position immediately.

Aha! I asked before about getting cell coordinates, but no one answered me. I'll do that and add the screenshots. :)

That would be good. Its muck easier to find things like that with a screenshot because I have a visual point of reference.

Sure thing.

And in other news, Reaper9111 has released a player home for this mod: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28517. I downloaded/installed it last night, but I haven't checked it out yet. It's right near the Temple of the Two Moons.
User avatar
Stephanie I
 
Posts: 3357
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:28 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 6:28 am

It gives a really cool feeling to me when I walked out of Duncori walk (or whatever the name) on the deserty coast southward into the jungley area.
User avatar
SUck MYdIck
 
Posts: 3378
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 6:43 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:20 am

It gives a really cool feeling to me when I walked out of Duncori walk (or whatever the name) on the deserty coast southward into the jungley area.


I know what you're talking about, I felt that exact same feeling! :woot: It just felt so realistic, and amazing. I had never seen a land like that before. It was all new to me.
User avatar
Rachel Hall
 
Posts: 3396
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:41 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 2:13 am

Some new pics from Dune:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune14.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune15.jpg

Liliana, would you mind telling me who made Orcrest? Would this individual mind if I altered the meshes? I'd like to improve them a bit.
There would be a downside to this as well: The meshes might get more complex, resulting in fewer FPS. Should I give it a go?

btw is there any chance to get someone to redo the ANQPalmetto - trees? From a distance, they look like http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/710/treesjj.jpg... there's something wrong with the texture I guess??
User avatar
Aman Bhattal
 
Posts: 3424
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:01 am

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:40 am

Some new pics from Dune:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune14.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z133/mr_siika/Elsweyr/dune15.jpg
Liliana, would you mind telling me who made Orcrest? Would this individual mind if I altered the meshes? I'd like to improve them a bit.
There would be a downside to this as well: The meshes might get more complex, resulting in fewer FPS. Should I give it a go?
btw is there any chance to get someone to redo the ANQPalmetto - trees? From a distance, they look like http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/710/treesjj.jpg... there's something wrong with the texture I guess??


The Orcrest meshes were mostly made by theKarithian. Its ok to make changes to them as long we pass those on to him.
The houses in the residential district are retextures of models made by DarknessEternal.

It would be cool if the Orcrest architecture was elaborated. Its a mainly orc city so it should look quite rough and fortressy. Things like those spikes you did for the Dune city walls would really look good. And the buildings in the oasis district could be more elaborate or multi-storied. I have an inn there which is short on space for actual inn rooms!
FPS shouldn't be a problem, because most of the city is in its own worldspace, and the open part with the large oasis is quite sparse.

The palmettos really need TES4LODGen to appear properly. They become stretched at mid distance without those lods.
But overall the landscape should look like this when its been generated--
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/images/25023-1-1252527276.jpg
I guess the speed trees could still be improved. But I hear the software is quite finicky to work with.

Cool thanks. Although I already found that one and, as you said, the transitions weren't really great so I wasn't sure how accurate it was with your mod overall. Guess it's a good enough reference. :)
Yes I noticed that, at first I thought the original colored map was incorrect but checking it ingame showed me the map reflected the landscape. Made things a bit odd at first, as almost all maps of Tamriel/other provinces have a much wider landmass at the Topal Bay.
I was thinking of that aswell, maybe in a later stage though. I would have to create the southern shore (and the southeast point with Senchal) on the map, I'm a bit hesitant to do that without an ingame reference. Maybe when your great mod has expanded further south....? :angel: Adding Torval would be an option, if I'd have the skill to make a cool new city texture for it. Currently my texturing skills lie somewhere between copy-pasting and blending layers. :P
-kyoma


It does match up alot better with the old TES Arena map of Elsweyr, if you rotate that one clockwise 30 degrees or so. There is a huge stretch of coastline between Alabaster and Duncori Walk. The province gets a bit squished up in the second official map.
http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/maps_elsweyr.shtml

Yep, its probably best to just stick to the modded area. The rest is undefined, so its hard to include on a map. Its simpler just to slap down the word "Tenmar Forest" beyond Corinthe, and call it uncharted jungle.

I know what you're talking about, I felt that exact same feeling! :woot: It just felt so realistic, and amazing. I had never seen a land like that before. It was all new to me.


. . . its not a very big jungle. And if you wander too far the giant tiger will gobble you up! That thing was just a test monster, but people liked it so I left it there.

Aha! I asked before about getting cell coordinates, but no one answered me. I'll do that and add the screenshots. :)
Sure thing.
And in other news, Reaper9111 has released a player home for this mod: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28517. I downloaded/installed it last night, but I haven't checked it out yet. It's right near the Temple of the Two Moons.


Yes, Reaper9111 made a really nice player home at the oasis opposite the temple. I'm trying it out myself at the moment. :)
User avatar
Maeva
 
Posts: 3349
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:27 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:13 pm

I was looking through my mod list in Wrye Bash, trying to figure out a problem (unrelated to this), when I saw "<---Delinquent Master: Elsweyr Anequina". Is this something I should be worried about? I'm thinking not, since it's been running fine, but it never hurts to ask.
User avatar
A Dardzz
 
Posts: 3370
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:26 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 5:31 am

It does match up alot better with the old TES Arena map of Elsweyr, if you rotate that one clockwise 30 degrees or so. There is a huge stretch of coastline between Alabaster and Duncori Walk. The province gets a bit squished up in the second official map.
http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/maps_elsweyr.shtml

Yep, its probably best to just stick to the modded area. The rest is undefined, so its hard to include on a map. Its simpler just to slap down the word "Tenmar Forest" beyond Corinthe, and call it uncharted jungle.
The way I looked at it was a bit like a globe, where the second map is sort of layed around a globe, and the ingame map is more stretched out like you'd get if you transfer a globe to a flat surface. I'm keeping the original raw image with the (many, many) layers so I'll be able to expand it should the mod ever add those areas.

And another question (sorry), this time about Orcest. When comparing the size of the city on the map it is way smaller than all the cities in Cyrodiil, is this the case ingame or not? If not, what size should it be (e.g. which city is the most similar in size)? :unsure:

[edit-while-typing]
On second thought, it's not really that much smaller. But to replace the question, right now Dune is basically just a bit of roads that are crossed, has Dune since been improved or expanded? I'd love to make a more proper city icon for it considering it's a pretty large city, right?
[/edit-while-typing]

[edit2]
Oh and here's a http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l243/Kyoparadox/cyrodiil_elsweyr_redux.jpg?t=1259918032 of the Elsweyr terrain for Elven Map Redux. I'm still tweaking the northern border with Cyrodiil and I need to decide how much more 'green' there is on the west border with Valenwood. I think that will have to wait until the Xylo River is added so there is a clear landmark to work with.
[/edit2]

[edit3]
And http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l243/Kyoparadox/cyrodiil_elsweyr_redux_2.jpg?t=1259944931 with the roads and location text, mostly to test the layout cause I'll be tweaking the text to blend in more in the final draft. And to not waste this nice edit with just a spoiler picture, I was hoping to get your (Iliana, others?) opinion on wether or not I should add that small stream that runs from the coast past Corinthe up to below Orcrest. Personally I'd say leave it out, ingame the 'river' isn't that big (literally a stream for most parts) and it doesn't seem to have a name either (which suggests to me it isn't an actual river). But......that's just me and I'm not making the map for just me. ;)
[/edit3]

-kyoma
User avatar
Trey Johnson
 
Posts: 3295
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:00 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 5:25 pm

I've also been poking around with a map in photoshop, trying to do something somewhat original, with a mind to feature most of the mods I currently have installed, including UL, Leyawiin Reborn, and Deserts of Anequina. Here's a rough copy of what I have so far; I'm going for a graphite-on-watercolour effect. So far there is no text, but it does feature minor paths/trails in brown, and outlines of Unique Landscapes areas in blue. So, yeah, anywho, after looking at kyoma's here, I thought y'all might like to see what I've got so far, so here it is.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2jfxcpl.jpg

For the text, I'm planning to do it all by hand with a calligraphy pen and a scanner, 'cause I can't for the life of me find a font I really like.
User avatar
KU Fint
 
Posts: 3402
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:00 pm

Post » Fri May 27, 2011 1:29 am

I've also been poking around with a map in photoshop, trying to do something somewhat original, with a mind to feature most of the mods I currently have installed, including UL, Leyawiin Reborn, and Deserts of Anequina. Here's a rough copy of what I have so far; I'm going for a graphite-on-watercolour effect. So far there is no text, but it does feature minor paths/trails in brown, and outlines of Unique Landscapes areas in blue. So, yeah, anywho, after looking at kyoma's here, I thought y'all might like to see what I've got so far, so here it is.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2jfxcpl.jpg

For the text, I'm planning to do it all by hand with a calligraphy pen and a scanner, 'cause I can't for the life of me find a font I really like.
Looks pretty neat! :)
User avatar
Jodie Bardgett
 
Posts: 3491
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:38 pm

PreviousNext

Return to IV - Oblivion