An empty heightmap is simply land that has no objects on it. Much of Hammerfell is still in such a state.

No new screenshots today, but lots of progress

Our exterior claims are going great. With the addition of docks into OoT the Taneth harbor is nearing completion, finishing off another area of the city. I have also been busy preparing Nemon's half of goldmoor - including Rihad, Chaseguard, Roseguard, and numerous other settlements - for merge into the main file. Adanorcil and Jonarus are also hard at work on their claims. On the modeling side of things, Nex has been doing a great job finishing important models. His latest conquests include market stalls and containers as well as a magnificent modular Goldmoor bridge

In regards to OoT, I remember seeing some sketches by you quite awhile back for clothing and I think armor. How does that progress?

While i can only speak formyself of course, I can repeat Lady Nerevar's suggstions that all is proceeding well (my two week case of the flu not withstanding - Dont worry, it was only the normal flu ).

What i can promise for my part is a slightly different take on a mine enterance (the Interior of which is actually the work of another modder), and some prime examples of the "Moor" part of "Goldmoor".

Rant Out.

JD

How are you going to make dungeons and fill them? I'll try to explain what I mean; in Cyrodiil (vanilla) 99% of dungeons (caves, forts, and mines) were always abandoned and filled with outlaws or evil creatures. Their pattern are also extremely linear; that is, little differences in architectural design and they always (read: only) form 90 degrees corner turn. Those become repetitive after some time.

Are you going to make dungeons that are actually filled with "good guys" and/or non-abandoned structures yet-almost-always-abandoned in Cyrodiil, like a working fort filled Imperial Legion soldiers or Redguard troops, mines that are not abandoned and there are people (no slaves) actually working inside, and perhaps caves that become home to guild of adventurers? I think (in my opinion) a few truly unique "dungeons" are much better than tons of generic or randomly generated dungeons like in vanilla Oblivion.

I know this might sound a lot and demanding, but I only add this suggestion because I found the Morrowind's "dungeons" were actually more diverse and alive than in Oblivion. Feel free to ignore my post though.

for now we are focusing more on statics and clutter because those are needed for claims. however, Jelle started on a navy uniform a while back, and ive recently learned to rig models and have been practicing on some Hammerfell armor, though its not anywhere near showcase level. There is one extra special, extra cool set that has already been completed by one of our members... but were keeping that secret for now

Part of the dungeon design is simply how the tileset is made. Morrowind had large, organic rooms to break up the monotony of hallways, while Oblivion's tileset is lacking in that respect. Since we dont plan on making another cave tileset theres only so far we can go with it. Our modders are extremely creative however, so there will be at least some variation My favorite Hammerfell dungeon so far is the ruined imperial fort i showed screenshots of a while back. the outside has all kinds of small ramparts and walkways, and it offers a magnificent view of Hammerfell. The interior, made by PoHa, is constructed entirely of exterior pieces, and really feels like a broken down tower, not a maze of pointless corridors.

Now is the perfect time to discuss dungeons actually, since ive been matching up our interiors (made years back) with our exteriors. Several will need to be redone, and we are currently discussing what exactly to do with them. We had a working mine in Stirk, so that is definitely an option for Hammerfell (though maybe not for Goldmoor, as it is rather flat). Another proposed idea was having some Yokudan immigrants hiding out in a cave, which could be a great lore opportunity. We also have two active forts, though those arent dungeons.

If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see in terms of dungeons, or anything else, please post

the trees on the roadside pic, i think in a world like Tamriel, some bandit or thief would have taken off with that lightpost

that shot is right outside of a town, so i think its fine

Well, my ideas mostly...just ideas :hehe:

Anyway, like I mentioned before (in my opinion) a few truly unique "dungeons" are much better than tons of generic or randomly generated dungeons like in vanilla Oblivion. I also happened to think about some sort of ancient or old temple site (like Hlormaren or Valenvaryon), or perhaps excavation, some kind of archaeological digging site with people looking for artifacts or learning history? From what I remember in both Morrowind and Oblivion, there was no large-scale government-sanctioned archaeological excavation. At most only a Fighters Guild member giving quests to search for Dwemer artifacts and Countess of Bruma giving quest to seek a lost Akavari treasure. You might also want to develop some of those dungeons (to the point where there are no hostiles characters, some of them are ought to have been "cleaned" before the player arrived) with emphasis on mind over muscle.

Actually now that I think about it again, Hammerfell are mostly deserts or barren wastelands (except for north maybe where Dragontail mountains covered the area) so plenty of ruins ought to have some kind of excavation sites already. When you think of ruins at Northern Africa, many have some kind of excavation sites on them already.

We had a huge dwemer excavation in Morrowind (released in http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21154, in case you guys are interested in the execution), and an Imperial Archeological Society quest line is part of our MG replacement... so I'm pretty sure that excavations are in i dont know what exactly they will be (Fang Lair? an ancient Raga city?), but they will almost certainly be featured.

Would this be a good time to re-mention my quarry? One thing i hated about Vanila Oblivion was the lack of variety in location types. Quarrys were the biggest omision to my mind, as there are stone buildings and fortifications and such EVERYWHERE, but absolutely no idicationas to where all the stone came from. Here is a quick shot of the (admitadly small) quarry exterior i have made. Its not 100% complete yet, so any feed back would be greatly appriciated.

The image is particularly hi-res, but if you look closely you can see there is a bucket full of small rocks.

http://img195.imageshack.us/i/csshot1.jpg/

JD

http://ladyn.tamriel-rebuilt.org/PR2/TanethNew2.jpg

This is the sort of pictures that could keep me playing Oblivion for one and a half eternity, just to be prepared for when it's released. Amazing...

Also, I'd like to pile in with the crowd (well, XtremeRampage and Jonarus_Drakus) discussing things like more immersive places, that is, non-abandoned mines, quarries, forts, etc. In my opinion, Oblivion had way more dungeons than it needed, and when they all more or less looked exactly the same there was ehm... even more too many of them

In general, less caves, forts and mines around (abandoned or not) and less of them actually abandoned. Could be nice places to connect with quests later on as well

Goldmoor is roughly 400 cells, and we currently have 13 interiors for it. this number may change slightly (addition of quest specific interiors and yoku ruins once that set is done), but over all its much less densely populated by stuff that wants to kill you.

in related news, i'd like to welcome Myzel as our new Head of Concept Art! Besides being a wonderful artist, Myzel is also the manager of our http://tamriel-rebuilt.deviantart.com/ account, the designer of the aforementioned Yoku Ruin tileset, and the man behind the yoku god frescoes, which were deemed "So official it isn't funny anymore" by Michael Kirkbride (who made everything that is awesome and redguard in TES).

here is one of those http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Vahiku/TamrielRebuilt/morwhacolored.jpg, textured by Adanorcil (our multitalanted Head of Lore and a librarian at the Imperial Library).

[edit] Heh, forgot an even better piece of news: Adanorcil's 8-2 claim went into reviewing today, meaning that most of Goldmoor's exteriors are now finished

Lady N, are you running things at TR now or is the original crew still there? I remember most of them ( was a member way way back, when the morrowind project was newly getting off the ground).

oh boy, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone anywhere that remembers the modding days of 02. Which means that i :bowdown: to you man.

The administration is totally different, but some of the older folks are still around, either lurking or contributing. Looking at our memberlist: Eraser pops in once in a while, Haplo is an admin (heh, i remember when we used to make fun of him for being a newb ), Nemon is head of Exteriors, Morden goes in and out of activity, and Zalzidrax is around. I think thats it for the 03 and before folks. There are many more from 04, such as myself, that are still modding for the project Man, now im getting all nostalgic, though the fact that I can even make a thread about TR around here means that its all been for the better

Haplo, Thrignar Fraxix (also from '04) and I are the projects Admins... I'm just the most public one. I think its because of my PR Bra of +2 Personality :3

[edit]Maryland! Represent!

Yep, I'm from calvert county and I'm going to school at UMD.

In 02, I was 12 years old. I got into the CRPG game at a young age. That was when I started working in the lab I am currently employed in here in College Park.

Oh CR4P!! I just realised that with 8-2 going to review that makes my work on 8-6 the only thing holding goldmore back :eek: ! And me with only one ear temporail- #&#^^#^^# >sounds of smashing glass here <... damn lack of balence. Yeah, clogged ear, not that thats an excuse or anything...

> insert self-imposed whip-cracking here <

A couple of new screenshots today of the Rihad Lighthouse. The towering lighthouse is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.

http://ladyn.tamriel-rebuilt.org/PR2/LighHouse01.jpg, http://ladyn.tamriel-rebuilt.org/PR2/LighHouse02.jpg

Also, in related news, I have been fixing the border crossings into Hammerfell. All the physical bugs have been banished, now we just need to playtest the quests

Are those in-game or renders?

Basically it is what it'll look like ingame, she just took the picture in the CS

This looks great.

I remember waiting for TR in my Morrowind days, and know I get to play the mods of Morrowind and Oblivion.

Nifskope actually, but close enough

Last couple of days I've been working on polishing the border crossings. Everything is looking great so far, just a couple small issues left to iron out

Tell me if there is any more i can do.

I'm fine for now, thanks for offering I reinstalled OB today and everything now works without crashes.

Anyways, I have a poll for you guys. should I add Rihad on the other side of the border? on one hand, it makes it look more realistic as it actually shows the city. It also looks pretty damn epic. on the downside it causes a few more incompatibilities (potentially. the only ones I can think of off hand are the other Hammerfell projects, and incompatibilities there can hardly be avoided).

Also, if you happen to have the Fighter's Stronghold DLC AND the UL projects Beaches of Cyrodiil, Colovian Highlands, Cloud Top Mountains, and Brena River installed please send me a PM

atm I'm tracking down potential conflicts for the crossings. Here is a http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/g/maps/created/mw_map9.jpg of the area they occupy, if you know a mod that edits the same area (besides those listed above), please post a message.

Go for it...add it in. Athmoor is well know for working out incompatibilities.

i say go for a rihad on the other side of the border, but if you do so, it will conflict with WAC.