[WIPz] Hammerfell : IV - Oblivion

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:06 pm

Hammerfell really looks like its Bethesda quality! :user:

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:06 am

Thanks for the kind words

Got a couple of screenshots for you today. First up is the lower class interior set I'm working on. The textures in particular are still work in progress, so comments are appreciated.
http://a.imageshack.us/img818/9875/lcint02.jpg - http://a.imageshack.us/img829/8938/lcint01.jpg - http://a.imageshack.us/img806/8247/lcint03.jpg

Next up are some early shots of the Helkori, our next region. Shadowbeast and I are currently hard at work fixing various errors caused by the procedural generation, so those changes are not reflected here. The screenshots also show primarily the more cluttered edges and the merge to the Colovian border region, as the interior is not very pretty without _far meshes.
http://a.imageshack.us/img718/5325/hk01z.jpg - http://a.imageshack.us/img805/1556/hk02.jpg - http://a.imageshack.us/img841/7199/hk03.jpg

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:24 pm

Nice new pics. Are you going to eventually make a patch for the Brena River Ravine? You know the part that sticks into Hammerfell...

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:29 pm

Since we don't edit the border on the Cyrodiil side, no patch will be needed (unless BRR overlaps with one of our border forts, which I think is not the case but I've not checked). I suspect most incompatibilities will occur at the mouth of the Brena, where Fort Brena sits in our mod. Its a very popular area with wip mods, but I'm not sure if anything released modifies it. I'm all for patches and will make them when I can, but I admit that I don't use many mods and don't have much experience with making patches. It will likely be up to you guys to make them (like Vorians did for Stirk)

OT, I remember reading about a program (a pyFFI extension thingamajig?) that automatically created reduced poly _far meshes. I can't find the thread atm, can anyone link me?

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:49 pm

Nice pics. :goodjob:

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:33 am

Yay for early Helkori screenshots! I was waiting to get a first glimpse of that region.

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:12 am

OT, I remember reading about a program (a pyFFI extension thingamajig?) that automatically created reduced poly _far meshes. I can't find the thread atm, can anyone link me?

I'll PM a link to you, the program is no longer publicly available as far as I know. It's not perfect though, sometimes the result is badly warped.

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:51 pm

Great stuff as always! I see that you've made a "real lights" kind of a lighting in those interiors (lighting based more on actual light sources than ambient light), which is what i was hoping for.

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:42 pm

Rihad is so big...you could literally have 100 quests originating from that city alone! I am MAJOR LEAGUE impressed! Keep it up!!!!!

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:36 am

Thanks for the feedback

Thanks to Vorians for the link, I'll try it out later today.

Now I need your opinions on the matter of the border. As it stands, the border crossings are in a separate esp.
1) Should I keep them in a separate esp? This makes the mod a smidgen harder to install, but allows more customization (eg. you can choose not to use the border if you already use a mod that modifies that area).
~~2) Merge into the esm? This makes the mod easier to install, but does not allow as much customization (and makes fixing/preventing conflicts player-side a bit harder).~~

If 1, should I also make the border crossings available as a separate plugin for those not wishing to play Hammerfell (not dependent on Hammerfell.esm and bundled with its own OoT.esm package)? The plugin includes two garison forts, a cave, and three quests, and stands well alone. This could create confusion if members use the independent file with Hammerfell, as there would not be an actual passage to the province. It would also cause outright conflicts with 2.

Thoughts?

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:43 pm

Thanks for the feedback

Thanks to Vorians for the link, I'll try it out later today.

Now I need your opinions on the matter of the border. As it stands, the border crossings are in a separate esp.
1) Should I keep them in a separate esp? This makes the mod a smidgen harder to install, but allows more customization (eg. you can choose not to use the border if you already use a mod that modifies that area).
2) Merge into the esm? This makes the mod easier to install, but does not allow as much customization (and makes fixing/preventing conflicts player-side a bit harder).

If 1, should I also make the border crossings available as a separate plugin for those not wishing to play Hammerfell (not dependent on Hammerfell.esm and bundled with its own OoT.esm package)? The plugin includes two garison forts, a cave, and three quests, and stands well alone. This could create confusion if members use the independent file with Hammerfell, as there would not be an actual passage to the province. It would also cause outright conflicts with 2.

Thoughts?

I thought esm's couldn't edit the Tamriel worldspace?

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:54 am

Argh, I think you're right, totally forgot about that. I suppose that leaves us with 1 and 1b.

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:33 pm

Option 1b is merely providing two versions of the ESP - one which links to the new worldspace, one which doesn't - along with two versions of the ESM - one which contains the new worldspace, and one which doesn't. Personally I don't really see the point in that. The purpose of the border crossings is to give entry to the new worldspace, and these HAVE to be in an ESP, so just go with option 1. It's easier for yourselves, and means less explaining when those who neglect to read the readme start asking why there are two ESPs and which they should use and why there are duplications of everything at the border crossing when using both ESPs and why there are two ESMs and do they need to use both ESMs and why when they used the ESM and ESP which is just the border crossing without the new worldspace they are unable to access the new worldspace and.... Go with option 1

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:08 am

I'm still trying to get this, but what I think your asking is if the border crossings should have a playable version without playing the hammerfell mod? Since this particular esp would only be dependent on the OOT esm (if that), than you wouldn't need 2 hammerfell.esm's like what display name is saying, right?

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:24 am

Yes. The intent of 1b is to create a wholly independent mod, with a dependency only on OoT (our data files - Stirk, our previous release, is also dependent on this esm and Hammerfell will be as well). Nothing about OoT would need to differ between the two versions.

Other than that, Vorians is right. It would create quite a bit of confusion and make fixes more difficult. I would still do it if there was significant demand, but there doesn't appear to be.

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:15 am

Ah, when you said "with its own OoT.esm package" I assumed that meant it would need its own, new ESM. If it would simply be using an existing ESM which the Hammerfell mod already needs anyway, this slightly reduces the potential confusion. Still, in my opinion, I would suggest just sticking to option 1. The border crossings are meant to be part of the Hammerfell mod not something else, so why make them something else?

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:24 pm

http://a.imageshack.us/img690/3456/border02.jpg for N, http://a.imageshack.us/img237/240/border01.jpg for Hammerfell.

Yep, thats Rihad, in the Tamriel worldspace, for immersion and distant land purposes ^_^

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:03 am

http://a.imageshack.us/img690/3456/border02.jpg for N, http://a.imageshack.us/img237/240/border01.jpg for Hammerfell.

Yep, thats Rihad, in the Tamriel worldspace, for immersion and distant land purposes ^_^

:bowdown:

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:19 am

So glad to see you got that worked out, N! Good job

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:19 pm

Excellent!

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 8:01 pm

Hehe, thats pretty cool. Would it be visible from Stirk?

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:26 am

Not sure, actually. I'm not running distant LOD, since it sits in the middle of a heavily modded area, but if you were to do that you probably could see it from Stirk. There is a really nice scenic overlook on the road to Fort Brena that has a magnificent view of Stirk, though

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:29 am

That sounds pretty cool. But yeah, just having that on the border would make Cyrodiil feel so much less isolated. Its like a house on an empty field that is divided in property and owned by neighbors you never see except those hicks down in Elsweyer right on the otherside of the hill...

Wow, that was a strange way of putting it. But I dunno, thats just what the game feels like to me at this very moment. :mellow:

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:48 pm

Magnificant!
That's going to put anvil to shame.

» Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:33 am

Quick update:

The http://hammerfell.daryam.com/ConceptArt.html on our website is finally up.