[D IV]

Just an quick annotation: Elsweyr: Deserts of Anequina has reached #1 in TesNexus' http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/, and has reached position #10 in the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/alltime.php. Woo-hoo!

Congratulations, Iliana and all the rest of contributors of this great project!

[Trish]

Great to see a great varriety in maps, what a treat.

I was wondering,
Is there anyone among these cartographers that uses the Bartholm mod?
If so, it would be great to have an Elsweyr map including the city.

[u gone see]

I'm thinking along the same lines as Artfact. Bartholm seems rather neglected when it comes to maps, however Anequina must be on the grid before anything else!

[Alexander Lee]

It would be cool if the Orcrest architecture was elaborated.

I had an extensive look Orcrest's houses and walls today. I altered some houses and the city walls, gates and towers.
Here the results:
http://img215.imageshack.us/i/orcrest2a.jpg/ - http://img215.imageshack.us/i/orcrest2b.jpg/
Another pic http://img187.imageshack.us/i/orcrest1.jpg/. The houses look better now, but not that spectacular.

My opinion is this: Almost every texture for Orcrest has a severe normal map problem, that's why they are so shiny. The design of the meshes
is nice, but they all have spots where they'd desperately need more faces; and on the other hand there are spots that have far too many faces.
I'd like to return to Dune for now, as that work is far more satisfying (and causes me far fewer headache) than fixing Orcrest-meshes.

I think Orcrest looks better than before; Illiana, should I send you the new meshes? So you can try them out?

[Yonah]

Great to see a great varriety in maps, what a treat.

I was wondering,
Is there anyone among these cartographers that uses the Bartholm mod?
If so, it would be great to have an Elsweyr map including the city.

I'm thinking along the same lines as Artfact. Bartholm seems rather neglected when it comes to maps, however Anequina must be on the grid before anything else!

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=23140

Granted, it also has other stuff people may not want, but it was made sort of at my request. Bartholm is on it though. And it includes the GIMP source files so you can pick things apart. Personally I'd really love to see someone add the actual city blobs in Elsweyr because then my game map would be complete then

[kelly thomson]

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=23140

Granted, it also has other stuff people may not want, but it was made sort of at my request. Bartholm is on it though. And it includes the GIMP source files so you can pick things apart. Personally I'd really love to see someone add the actual city blobs in Elsweyr because then my game map would be complete then

That's great, thanks, I knew I had seen it somewhere.

Also, Mr Siika those walls are lovely like that.
A somewhat more grittier mud-plaster walls would suit it, I think, though the non-shininess is of course an improvement already.

[Miguel]

Everything is looking great so far!

One bit of input for Illiana; I think when you get to building dune you should try to keep some of sloping hillside city feel, and not abandon it entirely for terraces, that gave the original city a very original atmosphere, even if it was only a mock up with orcrest homes. This could maybe be achieved by placing the palace at the back between the two dunes on its own respective terrace, and the upper class homes on terraces at the top of each dune facing across from eachother, then you could put the LC houses just sloping on down the sides of the dunes into the valley (if that makes any sense).

[Marquis T]

Is this anything to be concerned with or just stuff in the ESP that's no longer being used?

=================================================================   TES4FILES V3.34 ERROR FILE   ElsweyrAnequinaFri Dec 04 16:42:01 -0800 2009=================================================================================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Armor/DaedricBrown/M/greaves.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clothes/Circlets/CircletBTopaz.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clothes/Circlets/CircletBtopaz_gnd.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clothes/Circlets/BeastDiademG.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Desert/TempleDoor01.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Tents/CanopyBlue02.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Tents/CanopyRed02.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Tents/CanopyRed01.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Huts/GrassHut01.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clutter/MountedHeadTrollDesert.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Corinthe/EXTCityWallGate001.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Corinthe/Palace/LowWall01A.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Creatures/Minotaur/head7.nif"================> CANNOT READ FILE "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Creatures/Minotaur/minotaur7.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Corinthe/EXTCityWallGate001.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Corinthe/Palace/LowWall01A.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Desert/TempleDoor01.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Huts/GrassHut01.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Tents/CanopyBlue02.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Tents/CanopyRed01.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Architecture/Tents/CanopyRed02.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Armor/DaedricBrown/M/greaves.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clothes/Circlets/BeastDiademG.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clothes/Circlets/CircletBTopaz.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clothes/Circlets/CircletBtopaz_gnd.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Anequina/Clutter/MountedHeadTrollDesert.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/creatures/AnequinaRagasha/idle_sharman.kf"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Creatures/Minotaur/head7.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Creatures/Minotaur/minotaur7.nif"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/textures/clothes/pale_riders hats/m/gaze.dds"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/textures/creatures/goblin/testgobskin05.dds"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/textures/creatures/rat/hornrateye_g.dds"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/textures/ODD/Static/Furniture/P1DseatSpot.dds"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/textures/trees/leaves/AnequinaBerryLeaves.dds"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/trees/Anequina/BerryTree01.spt"===> Cannot find file "C:/Games/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/Data/trees/Anequina/Weeds01.spt"

[Lizzie]

I bet that when ES V finally comes out, Elsweyr: TDOA will be be the greatest mod ever for Oblivion. It already is in my mind!

[Sammi Jones]

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=23140

Granted, it also has other stuff people may not want, but it was made sort of at my request. Bartholm is on it though. And it includes the GIMP source files so you can pick things apart. Personally I'd really love to see someone add the actual city blobs in Elsweyr because then my game map would be complete then

Cool, I was looking for a map which had Bartholm so I had a general outline of the city.

[Juanita Hernandez]

I had an extensive look Orcrest's houses and walls today. I altered some houses and the city walls, gates and towers.
Here the results:
http://img215.imageshack.us/i/orcrest2a.jpg/ - http://img215.imageshack.us/i/orcrest2b.jpg/
Another pic http://img187.imageshack.us/i/orcrest1.jpg/. The houses look better now, but not that spectacular.
My opinion is this: Almost every texture for Orcrest has a severe normal map problem, that's why they are so shiny. The design of the meshes
is nice, but they all have spots where they'd desperately need more faces; and on the other hand there are spots that have far too many faces.
I'd like to return to Dune for now, as that work is far more satisfying (and causes me far fewer headache) than fixing Orcrest-meshes.
I think Orcrest looks better than before; Illiana, should I send you the new meshes? So you can try them out?

Oh yes, please do. I really like the addition of the spikes on the battlements, it makes it feel rougher and more orcish. The non-gloss textures makes a big difference as well!
I don't suppose you could straighten out the outward facing side of the wall towers a bit to match the slope of the walls. They weren't designed for the octogon layout I gave Orcrest. I made the walls less sloping myself in nifscope, but the towers were beyond me.

Of course, I'd prefer to see some more of Dune.

Everything is looking great so far!
One bit of input for Illiana; I think when you get to building dune you should try to keep some of sloping hillside city feel, and not abandon it entirely for terraces, that gave the original city a very original atmosphere, even if it was only a mock up with orcrest homes. This could maybe be achieved by placing the palace at the back between the two dunes on its own respective terrace, and the upper class homes on terraces at the top of each dune facing across from eachother, then you could put the LC houses just sloping on down the sides of the dunes into the valley (if that makes any sense).

It may be possible to keep something of the U-shape gully look. But I also really like the terraces. I'll just wait till Mr Siika is finished with his design layout and talk about it after that.

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

It looks great! You could extend the green of the Tenmar Forest further towards the western edge of Corinthe and along the coast up to Duncori Walk where the jungle begins.
Yes, I think its fine to leave out the Red River. It mostly runs parallel to the north-south road anyway.
If you want some extra names, the piece of land between Dune and Riverhold is called the Saimisil Savannah (its mentioned in the TES book Mixed Unit Tactics), and the roads are called King's Walk (Riverhold to Orcrest), Neumar Walk (Dune to Orcrest), Duncori Walk (south of Corinthe), and Darkarn Road (Orcrest to Alabaster).

Dune hasn't been fully designed yet, but the existing map is vague enough to suffice in any case. Sadly though, Riverhold, is invisible! But its quite compact on the map because its built horizontally with lots of cavern homes. Orcrest is smaller in land area than the vanilla cities but the houses are much more tightly packed together. It actually has more residential interior space than Bravil!

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.

That's very nice! I like the soft watercolors on parchment sheet look. It looks like some of those very old real-world maps. The more maps the better! Everyone will then find something to match their tastes.

Just an quick annotation: Elsweyr: Deserts of Anequina has reached #1 in TesNexus' http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/, and has reached position #10 in the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/alltime.php. Woo-hoo!
Congratulations, Iliana and all the rest of contributors of this great project!

Thanks. Its done much, much better than I ever thought it would. And so much of it is still unfinished as well.

Is this anything to be concerned with or just stuff in the ESP that's no longer being used?

Thanks. I have spotted one that needs correcting--
DaedricBrown/M/greaves.nif should be Daedric/M/greaves.nif
And I need to check this one too--
textures/clothes/pale_riders hats/m/gaze.dds

Most of the other missing items were deliberately left out of the upload because they were resources I haven't actually used yet.
Minotaur7 is a silver minotaur. The extra canopies and tents are standard ones in various different colors. I originally intended those for Dune which was going to be a more colorful city. And the berrybush and weed speed trees are also spares.

creatures/AnequinaRagasha/idle_sharman.kf
This has the wrong address which is strange, because the CS usually assigns idles automatically from the creature folder. The file is actually AnequinaRagasha/specialidles/idle_sharman.kf

And these two are a mystery! I will have to have to hunt them down--
textures/creatures/rat/hornrateye_g.dds
textures/clothes/pale_riders hats/m/gaze.dds

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.

I think it is a problem with your load order. There are several esps which are dependent on the ElsweyrAnequina.esp and they must be loaded after it. Things like the female body adjustment esp, and the one for no spiders, and the manor house that reaper made.

I bet that when ES V finally comes out, Elsweyr: TDOA will be be the greatest mod ever for Oblivion. It already is in my mind!

There are many, many amazing mods. Its really hard to make comparisons because each one is unique. I guess I have a slight advantage in the New Lands category at the moment because not very many of that type have been released. But I think thats about change very soon. There are some very impressive new land mods in the works.

[Ally Chimienti]

It looks great! You could extend the green of the Tenmar Forest further towards the western edge of Corinthe and along the coast up to Duncori Walk where the jungle begins.
Yes, I think its fine to leave out the Red River. It mostly runs parallel to the north-south road anyway.
If you want some extra names, the piece of land between Dune and Riverhold is called the Saimisil Savannah (its mentioned in the TES book Mixed Unit Tactics), and the roads are called King's Walk (Riverhold to Orcrest), Neumar Walk (Dune to Orcrest), Duncori Walk (south of Corinthe), and Darkarn Road (Orcrest to Alabaster).

Dune hasn't been fully designed yet, but the existing map is vague enough to suffice in any case. Sadly though, Riverhold, is invisible! But its quite compact on the map because its built horizontally with lots of cavern homes. Orcrest is smaller in land area than the vanilla cities but the houses are much more tightly packed together. It actually has more residential interior space than Bravil!

Tenmar Forest: At first I wasn't sure cause of the different shoreline compared to the satellite view of Elsweyr. But I checked the border ingame (as far as possible) and it indeed does need to be larger. Although the majority of the actual forest seems to be focused in the west.

Red River: Hehe, now that you've named it I suddenly feel the need to add it anyways. Maybe I'll goof around a bit and see if I can make it look pretty.

Names: To be honest I just copied all the names that were on the original http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27519. A few of them are incorrect and when comparing it with the Colored Map (which is a bit hard to read some parts due to the grainy texture). It really annoys me that there isn't an official map of Elsweyr which has the road names on it, like Bethesda didn't want us to make an Elsweyr mod. And my lore knowledge isn't exactly great so that's not an option for me either.

Dune: I'll just leave it as it is for now. Maybe making it a bit more city-like (now it just looks like some roads grouped together).

Riverhold: Oops, it shouldn't have been invisible. I forgot that layer when I merged everything (in order to save it as a .jpg), don't worry, it will be on the map.

One question to Rule Them All: On the TESNexus page there is an image (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/images/25023-1-1244622535.jpg) and I was wondering where I might find this map. I looked through the archive but I couldn't find anything, neither in the esp. Although I admit I haven't downloaded the last addon pack (doing that now).

-kyoma

[BlackaneseB]

Yes, that is the original map of the mod created by Worm back in May.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24044
The map is taken from the actual LOD. So the shape is prefectly exact.

I gave him all the place names from my own original sketch. And later those other maps were derived from Worm's.

Most of the place names come from the TES Arena game. With a few others from in in-game books. I extended the meaning of some, like Duncori Walk and King's Walk are now each shared by a village and the local road.

REGIONS
Tardorn Wood (northern strip of woodlands) -- this one can probably be left out.
Saimisil Savannah
Ne Quin-al Desert (sandy desert)
Helkarn Land (red badlands)
Tenmar Forest (southern jungle)

MOUNTAINS
Mount Heimthor (the big central mountain)
Verkarth Hills (south and west of Dune, forming the border with valenwood)
Mount Alabaster (west of Leyawiin)
Lynmount (the saddle above Bravil)
Mount Thormar (the one between Skingrad and Dune)

ROADS
King's Walk (Riverhold to Orcrest)
Neumar Walk (Dune to Orcrest)
Darkarn Road (Orcrest to Darkarn Place)
Alabaster Road (Darkarn Place to Leyawiin) . . . but you can keep "Harborer Road", it was just a typo but it is the road to Leyawiin harbour, so it fits
Duncori Walk (South from Corinthe to the coast)

RIVERS
Red River
Brukreich Falls
Greenvale Mere

[Stu Clarke]

I think it is a problem with your load order. There are several esps which are dependent on the ElsweyrAnequina.esp and they must be loaded after it. Things like the female body adjustment esp, and the one for no spiders, and the manor house that reaper made.

Yeah, I had Reaper's manor loaded before it. Thanks!

BTW, the latest version of Better Cities has a boat you can take from Leyawiin/Anvil to Duncori Walk, among other places.

[james reed]

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?

I couldn't help but throw my input into the cultural/architectural discussion. I have come to envision the Khajiit culture to have a very mystical/spiritual aspect, heavily influenced by the natural elements of astrology and especially by the Moons' phases. This should be reflected in their culture and the architecture of the more 'civilized' regions/cities. While it would be tempting to give a more Egyptian feel b/c of the cat worship/elements in Egyptian culture (such as dark feline-esque eyeliner, etc.) I think that working some indian influences into the architecture and art would help illustrate the complex and spiritual nature of the Khajiiti culture; maybe taking a bit from both ancient cultures is not uncalled for.

I think it would have a very sensual and even tantric element to the culture as well. Also, I have always envisioned the Khajiit who use Moon Sugar as using it for some sort of spiritual enlightenment or to seek answers, similar to a Native American 'spirit quest'; of course, some would probably just use it for enjoyment or recreation as well. I would imagine going to Elsweyr as a very surreal and otherworldly experience, and some Khajiit you meet would be so 'ascended' or in touch with the spiritual realm as to be almost out of touch with the physical realm and hard to reach, as they would no longer care much about physical reality.

I don't know about the Khajiit and water thing. I imagine due to coming from a desert culture most Khajiit from the Anequina region would see water as precious or even sacred, yet maintain an aversion to being submerged or bathed in it (this has a practical element to it, as you wouldn't want to pollute your already scarce water supply). On the other hand, the more 'civilized' and decadent Khajiit may see bathing/swimming as a forbidden pleasure and might only be practiced among the very rich or those more accustomed to imperial culture.

The more rural areas should be more barbaric, focusing on the predatory aspect. There could even be some cannibalism or consumption of human/Bosmer or other races going on here. The bandits and skooma trade would be more prevalent here with the focus more on skooma use purely for pleasure or addiction as opposed to any type of spiritual ascension.

Another random thought on the cannibalism aspect - what about a funeral ritual where the death of a loved one or family member is consumed by surviving friends and family members, symbolically joining with the spirit/soul of the departed. This would seem horribly barbaric by outsiders, but would be a very sacred and traditional practice to Khajiit (think of a mother cat eating the newborn kittens of her litter that do not survive). Nature is practical, if it seems a bit cruel sometimes. Khajiit (or at least the more bestial suthay-raht) would be more in touch with this aspect of nature, I think.

Just some random musings about Khajiit culture, which could easily be the most fascinating culture in the game if it is well developed.

And here is a link to some Redguard footage containing one of my favorite Khajiiti of all: S'rathra --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mMNZ7G0cBI
He appears about 5 mins into the video.

May you walk on warm sands...

[Marquis T]

actually, i kinda imagined Hammerfell more Indian/Middle-Eastern and Elsweyr more African/Egyptian

[Rhi Edwards]

Are there a support for http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2634?

[u gone see]

I couldn't help but throw my input into the cultural/architectural discussion. I have come to envision the Khajiit culture ...

actually, i kinda imagined Hammerfell more Indian/Middle-Eastern and Elsweyr more African/Egyptian

Elsweyr seems to be loosely based on south Asia -- with its deserts, jungles, skooma (opium) pipes, carpet-weavers, plantations, lions and tigers in lore. I've avoided any ancient Egyptian stuff myself. But its a fantasy land first and foremost, so its a mish-mash of lots of different things, rather than a reproduction of any real world country.

Most cultural things like marriage, birth and death rituals, religious festivals and the like can't easily be represented in a game. So those have to be left to the imagination.

I have made the tribal villages quite barbaric. They attack anyone on sight, and a few hidden smuggler crates full of skooma show they are in league with the Renrijra Krin. A village near the Valenwood border also has some "strange meat" in its huts which suggests they might be cannibals.
I guess there could be some tribes which eat their own dead. The ancient Greeks knew of some like that in Europe who killed and ate the old people in their tribes. But that would have to be relegated to an in-game book at best. Perhaps some Imperial account of the tribes of Elsweyr, which may or may not be factual.

Are there a support for http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2634?

The closest one to that would be this--
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24044

I also saw a version of that Cyrodiil Terrain Map with Elsweyr colored partially in brown desert shades but without the roads and cities.

[RUby DIaz]

Thanks. Its done much, much better than I ever thought it would. And so much of it is still unfinished as well.

No pressure This is a big project, and it has already done much more than similar ones of recreating an entire Province.

[Mandy Muir]

No pressure This is a big project, and it has already done much more than similar ones of recreating an entire Province.

I think the reason why the other projects did not fare as well is because Iliana and team don't try to finish everything at once like them. Iliana and team like to release updates every few months or so. Their plan has turned out to be the DREAM PLAN FOR MODDING PROVINCES OUTSIDE OF CYRODIIL. A book, or at least a thread, could be written about this.

[Tiff Clark]

I think the reason why the other projects did not fare as well is because Iliana and team don't try to finish everything at once like them. Iliana and team like to release updates every few months or so. Their plan has turned out to be the DREAM PLAN FOR MODDING PROVINCES OUTSIDE OF CYRODIIL. A book, or at least a thread, could be written about this.

I agree. This deserves a nice reflexion-thread about things well scheluded-planned-released

[NO suckers In Here]

Iliana: I finally got back down to Elsweyr, checked out Reaper's mansion (pretty nice, though it has its bad points; see below), and got some screenshots of the rocks. I found several more, so I just combined them all into a http://project-phoenix.wikidot.com/local--files/files/floating%20rocks.zip; each one has location coordinates so you can find them more easily. "Rock 1" actually has a couple other floaters in the area; I was standing atop a huge rock to take that shot, and right behind me were two more smaller ones that looked just like the one in the shot.

I got to do the latest Hunter's Guild quest... I thought there were more done?

As for Reaper's manor: the manor itself is very nice, except for the nuclear orange light in the first room. The basemant was just what I was looking for - a mage's lab. I'm using Battlehorn Castle for a place to display armor and store my goods (I also have Battlehorn Enhanced, which adds a vault and many mannequin pedestals), but it doesn't really have a place for mage stuff. Some of the chests (the ones in the living room) have a bit too much loot, but that's easy to ignore. The notes/quest are horribly written - I'm thinking that English isn't his first language, but he really could have at least gotten someone to proof it for him - and the quest is kind of vague. Also, the new armor you get is for HGEC, unfortunately, though I doubt I'd ever wear it - not my style. It does look nice, though.

Other than that, I say it's a keeper. Now I can have a house in the north and one in the south.

[El Goose]

I think the reason why the other projects did not fare as well is because Iliana and team don't try to finish everything at once like them. Iliana and team like to release updates every few months or so. Their plan has turned out to be the DREAM PLAN FOR MODDING PROVINCES OUTSIDE OF CYRODIIL. A book, or at least a thread, could be written about this.

I agree. This deserves a nice reflexion-thread about things well scheluded-planned-released

Its extremely difficult to draw comparisons between mods. Of course, I am not a modeller, so I designed my mod around pre-existing resources, many of which were in turn created for huge mod projects of the past.
If you are creating something completely unique like Hammerfell or Sheogorad, then the models must be created from scratch before you can even begin. That is a much greater hurdle to overcome.

From what I've seen, most province mods take the modular approach. Hammerfell is concentrating on Goldmoor and its cities Rihad and Taneth, Black Marsh is focusing on the western quarter of that province, etc.

I guess if anything can be taken from the release of mine, it is that users are happy to receive an incomplete, modular province which is gradually expanded after the initial release. If you think about it, that is basically what modded Cyrodiil is. Users add one mod after the other to grow their game, and Cyrodiil is never really "complete." So I think province type mods have a lot of leeway in this regard.

Iliana: I finally got back down to Elsweyr, checked out Reaper's mansion (pretty nice, though it has its bad points; see below), and got some screenshots of the rocks. I found several more, so I just combined them all into a http://project-phoenix.wikidot.com/local--files/files/floating%20rocks.zip; each one has location coordinates so you can find them more easily. "Rock 1" actually has a couple other floaters in the area; I was standing atop a huge rock to take that shot, and right behind me were two more smaller ones that looked just like the one in the shot.
I got to do the latest Hunter's Guild quest... I thought there were more done?

Its a very nice sumptuous manor. Elsweyr was lacking in player homes so its a great addition. Yes, Reaper's first language is French, he's from Quebec. I am going to help him questify his quest shortly.

Yes, I'm doing some more quests now. Another three are already finished, and I'm up to fourth. Some of these new ones will be bit more complex and offer you quite a few choices and different outcomes. Mostly I'm doing ones centred around a particular NPC and they are quite dialogue heavy. I'll throw in a few more "go kill something" ones as well. They're always fun.

I hope Uglulyx's wip quest mod gets more attention as well. He has made some fabulous locations, which look like something straight out of the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth. Sadly quest mods often seem to fall under the radar, even though they are the bread and butter of game modding.

[SHAWNNA-KAY]

I need to rebuild my Elsweyr_Anequina OMOD. Problem is, my Elsweyr download directory has become a mess. I'm not sure which files are still valid, and in a few cases when to add them. I know I've seen much of this info spelled out on the web or in a readme, but recent searches don't find it.

Here's what I have:

• ElsweyrAnequinaV1.rar, file size 243,908 kB, with ElsweyrAnequina.esp dated 6/9/2009, not at Nexus. The readme leads me to believe that this is a combination of the three Nexus base downloads, ElsweyrAnequinaPart01 thru Part03. Additionally, file-size difference pretty much rule out it being ElsweyrJulSepNovAddionsCombined. Am I correct, and if so is it still a valid way to get the base files?
  
• ElsweyrJulyAddOnPack-25023.rar This is pretty straightforward. I just add it to ElsweyrAnequinaV1 (assuming V1 is still valid).
  
• ElsweyrSeptemberAddOnPack-25023.rar Again simple. I add it to V1 after the July add-on.
  
• ElsweyrNovemberAddOnPack-25023.rar Another easy one. I add it to V1 after the July and September add-ons.
  
• ElsweyrAnequinaMod.rar (a November download not from Nexus, file size 374,368 kB). Not sure where I got this. (I was sick at the time, and my brain scrambled.) It looks to be a combination of V1 (base files?) and the three add-on packs. By using this, I have no need for any of those others, right?
  
• ElsweyrAnequinaOptional-25023.rar (no longer at Nexus), consisting of HighResTexturesOrcrest and two unneeded (by me) patches. Is this still a valid add-on, or has it been incorporated in a later download? If sill good, when do I add it?
  
• ElsweyrAnequinaOptionalFiles-25023.rar, which contains a bunch of patches, the no-spider esp, and ElsweyrOrcrestHighTextureSizeFix.rar. This is probably an easy one. It's just that ElsweyrOrcrestHighTextureSizeFix, by name alone, implies that it is an add on for HighResTexuresOrcrest, which I questioned above.
  
• AnequinaCollisionOptimized.7z This has no readme. (I might have deleted it during the original installation process to reduce clutter.) Individual files date 8/13/2009. I labeled the download folder "Arthmoor", so he's its originator. Is this still a valid addition or have these files been incorporated in later releases?
  
• RAEVWD_Elsweyr_Anequina-20053.7z I believe this is Arthmoor's too. Another simple one? Just add the bits of it I want after all else is installed? I do not need the original RAEVWD mod to use it?
  
• ElsweyrSilentVoiceMP3s-25023.rar I use a universal silent-voice mod so will not install this. It is included solely for completeness.

There it is! I'd like to delete (or archive) obsolete and redundant Elsweyr downloads to avoid future confusion. Might also be good to know if I missed anything. A complete install order (with any needed addtions) wouldn't be amiss either.

Thanks in advance!
-Decrepit

[Jhenna lee Lizama]

More Quests...EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!