[WIPz] Hammerfell : IV

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:10 pm

Hammerfell
-- Goldmoor --

As per http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=281123, Hammerfell is no longer under the Tamriel Rebuilt umbrella. No, we are not stopping work or abandoning the project. We are restructuring it and reevaluating our goals, because our original objective is simply not possible at this moment.

The primary goal of this new Hammerfell project is the release of Goldmoor. If you want to help, send me a PM or email telling me what you want to help with.

http://hammerfell.daryam.com/

-- News --
May 21st - Goldmoor has been merged into the main esm and is considered finished save for fixes. Most of the border seams with the Helkori have also been corrected.
May 9th- I've finished my first year of college and gotten back to working on Hammerfell. My main goal is to get everything ready for our first release, tentatively titled Hammerfell: The Eastern Grasslands. It won't be a finished release, but it will still be huge chunk of land covering the Goldmoor, Corten Mountains, and Helkori regions, as well as Rihad and Taneth.

-- Goldmoor --

Goldmoor is a vast land of grassy hills, monolithic tors, and swampy coastal inlets located in the south of Hammerfell. Goldmoor is home to two major Forebear cities, Rihad and Taneth. Goldmoor is fully generated and most of the detailing claims are near completion, which means that this region is just about done.

Here are a few examples of our latest modeling endeavors:

Rihad was founded by the famous Swordsinger Frandar Hunding. And is unique in that it is a fiercely traditional Forebear city. The citizens consider the empire a powerful ally, but by no means intend to Cyrodiify like Taneth has done. Raha Treigo, a dictator-general who rose to power after the Camoran Usurper defeated the city, rules the city of Rihad.

At the time of writing, Rihad is nearly complete and interior work has begun on the middle class areas of the city. It is truly the gem of Goldmoor, full of tight alleys, small courtyards, and a brilliant layout that combines beauty with efficiency.

Duchess Clavilla, a staunch Imperial supporter who denounces all traditional Redguard ways, rules Taneth. After the Camoran Usurper destroyed Tanyedt in the mid 3rd Era, the Empire helped to rebuild it and made the city into an Imperial Duchy.

Taneth is over half way complete. The main middle class district and all of the lower class area has been completed, and the harbor and the fort is well under way. The city is much more open than Rihad, and features broad, sidewalk-lined streets reminiscent of many Imperial cities. While he wealthier citizens surround themselves with beautiful gardens, many of the city’s poor denizens are forced to live in the ruins left by the Usurper.

-NEW

-- Corten Mountains --
The Corten Mountains are a small mountain range separating Goldmoor from the Helkori. They are nearly impassable, but have many small paths and trails.

This region is very much a work in progress, and there is still a claim available in it. The screenshots below are the work of Shadowbeast.

http://digital.mica.edu/ff210_12/dmakarava/ScreensTEMP/Co01.jpg http://digital.mica.edu/ff210_12/dmakarava/ScreensTEMP/Co02.jpg http://digital.mica.edu/ff210_12/dmakarava/ScreensTEMP/Co03.jpg | http://digital.mica.edu/ff210_12/dmakarava/ScreensTEMP/Co05.jpg

Sincerely,
Lady N, Hammerfell Mod Leader

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:29 pm

Thumbs up to you guys over at Tamriel Rebuilt. Everything is looking spectacular.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:12 pm

This is shaping up to be more and more fantastic each iteration of the thread. I'm surprised there's only one comment, but I suppose it should become much more active in here when the first beta is released. It's great to see how original and detailed this mod is: it would be quite tempting to take the easy way out and make a place that uses all the old resources and looks the same as places in vanilla Oblivion. Looks great.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:44 pm

Keep up the good work.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:03 pm

Keep up the good work.

I 2nd that!!!! The more additional land that gets added on, plus all the new quests, is going to be like a bottle of booze for a chronic alky!!!!

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:54 pm

Looking awesome, can't wait!

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:52 pm

Everything looks great so far, keep up the good work.

But I have just one question. Are there gonna be some hidden stealth entrances into the Hammerfell world space? Because a thief wouldn't always want to go through the main entrances.

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:29 am

Tamriel Rebuilt: Beyond quality!

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:44 am

The greatest modder team ever - Tamriel Rebuilt!

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:25 am

Everything looks great so far, keep up the good work.

But I have just one question. Are there gonna be some hidden stealth entrances into the Hammerfell world space? Because a thief wouldn't always want to go through the main entrances.

Yes, there will be a cave entrance for the more stealthy characters. (A quest)

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:01 pm

Looks outstanding guys!!! cant wait for the release!!

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:23 am

huge update to the first post, be sure to read it.

this mod will be released. probably faster than it would have otherwise. the quality will also stay very high. What will change is the scope of the project and its organization. i am essentially ditching the claims and showcase system, relying instead on the smaller contributions of individual modders. this means you. If you are interested in helping in any way, or simply want more info, send me a PM or email.

let me also say this: if you want to see a mod succeed, you have to go and help it. saying that you like what we are doing and that you eagerly await a release really isnt doing anything for us (or any other mod team). yes, it feels nice to know youre appreciated, but the appreciation doesn't get models made or cells detailed or quests scripted. actual people do those things, and without those people mods never get done. here is a radical thought: if you want to make a landscape mod consider joining a team. you'll be greatly increasing the chance that the mod ever sees completion. you'll be doing a great thing for both the team and the community. creating more teams and more mods only further divides our already limited resources, further decreasing the chance of anything ever being finished.

ive heard a lot about "large landmass mods fail." im not going to disagree with it, because its often true. there are two main reasons for this: 1) the modder doenst know what he is getting himself into, and 2) lack of help from the community. TR knew full well what we were getting ourselves into: after all, we have 7 years of modding under our belt. we made mistakes with hammerfell, yes, but the biggest reason we did not achieve our goal was the lack of modelers. its not an easy job, but its not murderously hard either. all it takes is some patience and dedication.

and in more positive news, i started on the http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8241/mctables.jpg.

thanks for reading, opinions and feedback always welcome.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:08 pm

This really hits me suddenly, I had never expected that the work on the mod would be stopped

I'm gonna learn how to model! Yes I am going to learn how to model! Then I'm gonna try and help make Hammerfell! If someone could point me to a good tutorial! I already have blender! I am not gonna stop using exclamation marks, I am too fired up!

Seriously, a little link to a tutorial would be useful.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:10 pm

blender http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro is probably the most comprehensive start up tutorial. http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/ also has a good collection of tutorials, both http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/getting-started/ and for more advanced modelers. i'd definitely read the http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/tutorial-folder/blender-user-interface-tutorial/ and keep it open during modeling, as blender's interface is probably the hardest part of the program (at least for me).

[edit] seriously guys, i see you reading, i want to hear your opinions. especially you, t0, you little lurker.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:50 pm

As much as I'd love to lend a hand, I have myself buried in too many other things already.

Modeling is also Greek to me, despite having read many of the tutorials. Blender's UI is atrocious and other programs either cost too much money, or have extremely limited function. I also haven't got one lick of artistic talent on that level anyway. Pretty much the same for texturing. Just isn't in the cards for me. Which is why I always make do with existing resource packs that other folks have generously provided.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:33 pm

hmmm...probably it would be better to use free modders resources wherever it is possible and combine these with own unique stuff ..or maybe use existing resources and change them to your liking...
high quality projects as yours..or Silgrad or Blackmarsh which are going to create a lot of unique stuff would actually need complete modelling teams doing a full time job....problem is we've got only a few active and skilled modelling people in the whole community and these are mainly working on their own projects ....Mr_siika has created alot of stuff for different projects...currently doing stuff for Elsweyr... but he can't be everywhere...and imagine it must be very frustrating for him to work hard on resources for dead projects like npc's with jobs etc etc etc
This might be a reason as well for many modders not to join such big projects.....I fear recruiting noobs for modelling will not be an solution too...as real high quailty modelling can't be learnt in a few days..beside of the aspect that you need some talent too....
So don't get me wrong I am a big fan of the Tamriel Rebuilt stuff and mods, but maybe it would be a good idea to think about changing your philosophy....look at Ilianas Elsweyr mod...so many people are improving it now...and why is this so..it is living...people can touch, it play it ...it was and it is maybe not 100 % perfect but it is looking amazing and great fun to play and getting better and better as well with the help of the community....I am sure if you would release a playable version even an unfinished or beta...a lot of people would start help improving it too....

just my thoughts

regards

onra

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:01 am

What you could do is leave out blocks of land and list them on either here, or start a new thread called something like "Chunks of land to choose from to help complete a great landscape mod"...think of better wording, please! Anyways, you list them and interested modders can pick and choose. Maybe you can have a tagline like "Become even more famous than a UL modder" or something!

THE FOLLOWING IS TRUTH, BUT IT IS ALSO A JOKE TO LAUGH AT!

Or better yet, you can follow my path...when I was involved with UL, I wanted to give the modders something unique...so I came up with the "ST. " concept. Lots of complaints came in that it was 'anti-religous' , etc. But I persevered and the rest is history! Maybe that is something similar to what you can do...but just stick with it!!!!!

END TRUTH/JOKE

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:06 pm

...

Edit:

Stupid me... I should learn to read before I post...

Anyways, its really sad to see this project end as a Tamriel Rebuilt Mod. I had really high hopes for it.

But I am still excited to see the outcome. Can't wait to see further progress!

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:35 am

What I would love to see ( sadly this will never happen I think ) is merging this version of Hammerfell with this :

- http://hammerfellmod.ning.com/

Both mods are at a standstill, and both have so much quality work in them.

I agee with onra`s thoughts, it`s a good way to go. Ilianas Elsweyr mod is a great example of that.

I wish you the best of luck Lady Nerevar and hopes to see Hammerfell one day

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:59 pm

What I would love to see ( sadly this will never happen I think ) is merging this version of Hammerfell with this :

- http://hammerfellmod.ning.com/

I would prefer not to have my contribution to the Goldmoor region merged with that.

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:08 am

I would prefer not to have my contribution to the Goldmoor region merged with that.

Obviously you don't have to explain it but might I ask why? I mean, is it something with that mod in particular that I missed amongst the chaos? :unsure:

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:24 am

It doesn't matter anyway since merging landscapes should be pretty much impossible. Exchanging models might be a good idea though if mod A has models mod B doesn't have yet and vice versa.

I have often thought about contributing to this project, firstly because I really like how it looks and secondly because Lady Nerevar has helped with my project as well. And because I love doing tileset, especially when I can do my own stuff and not just have to redo existing models. Right now I'm working on getting Sheogorad in a releasable state, but after the release I would like to contribute something if my help is still needed and if there is something interesting to do.

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:23 pm

onra: valid points, and ones we have considered. we do use a number of modder's resources (and may end up using more now that its separate from TR), but i dont want to Hammerfell to look just like Elsweyr, which in turn looks a lot like a mix of Sands of Destiny and Mesogea. the problem with modder's resources is that *everyone* uses them, which leads to a whole bunch of mods looking the same. Using Mr.Siika's ships adds continuity between mods, since they are imperial trading vessels found all around the empire. However, using Darkness Eternal's desert architecture wouldnt make sense because its already used in half a dozen other provinces/regions.

If we focus only on releasing Goldmoor i am able to do most of the modeling needed. A few people have approached me interested in helping with modeling, so hopefully together we can meet our original goal of having a fully unique Goldmoor. The rest will be vanilla items or modder's resources.

richardrocket009: thats what im trying to get to now. encouraging smaller contributions away from a formal team structure. i have a full region of items and several hundred cells ready for detailing, if we decide that that is something worth starting (in that it will yield a finished product without holding back the primary goal of goldmoor) then i will definitely open those up to the community. It would also work with models: we have a dozen really, really cool armor concepts and even more sweet weapons that i would love modeled, hopefully someone steps up and makes one or two of them.

strupekutter/kyoma: thats not really possible, largely due to the fact that both teams have completed the same area. our philosophies are also extremely different, even now. I wouldnt quite say that our Hammerfell is quite at a stand still, progress was (and is) being made, it just wasnt enough to satisfy TR's requirements.

Phitt: well, we have a the Rourken Dwemer set that needs to be modeled...

in all seriousness, help is always needed and im sure i could find something to tickle your fancy.

thanks for the thoughts guys

» Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:56 pm

Hey Lady N, were you planning on creating a new website? It seems that everything would be alot more organized that way, all the modders and stuff, lore and storylines, even if you are ditching the showcase and claims system.

» Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:06 am

That's sad to hear. I've been following the progress of TR on Oblivion, and especially Morrowind, since it's inception. Alas, there's no helping it when, like you said, all the models have to be made from scratch, and having a serious lack of manpower doesn't help matters any. Good luck, hopefully some people here can bring it back to life with TR's help and jointly get it finished :foodndrink: