Chasepoint Query

[Deeza]

I'm not sure quite what is going on with Chasepoint. In your new description of the town you indicate that much of it was destroyed by a Naga raid (nice work by the way). My question is: do I detect a cunning plot to ensure we have less interiors to do? I only ask because if so, I could demolish the east side of town while I'm working on the interiors.

Please correct me if this wasn't your plan, but I think a half-ruined town with makeshift defences cutting it in two would really tie into several of the themes of these mods, plus be different to the rest (not to mention being quicker to finish!)

[Deeza]

Ah, I think I see I've gotten the wrong end of the stick. You presumably meant the other side of the river bank? But then we should make some ruins, I guess.

Still, it would be fun to have the remaining half under siege by Naga... It would make a nice quest to have to clear the town, perhaps the FG quest that first breaks you out into the big missions.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I honestly hadn't thought of it that way. The Naga would have to come down from the Northern jungles but they would probably use the waterways to do so. Therefore, the likes of Chasepoint would come under threat.

I guess we could add a small indication of the presence of the old walls but my intention was to have it fairly well 'cleaned up' afterwards. I'm not sure now whether Kvatch's main city walls themselves were in partial disrepair but if so then we could have a way of fraying the edges of the city walls that currently exist to create a nice effect.

The rotting ship carcass in the bay is easily explained as a testament to the past. I guess a small escarpment of bricks over on the Darkmoor shoreline could look quite cool too.

As for future Naga attacks, I guessed that would come in the Arnesian jungle perhaps....

[Deeza]

Ok. I think I'll add a scattering of low-lying bricks in the bushes over on the Darkmoor side. So we're going to go ahead with all the interiors, then?

Also, the trees and textures in the settlement itself need to be changed. They look like they're taken from Blackwood (I think they are) and should probably match a blend of Darkmoor and parchlands flora.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Yes, I'd go with all interiors.

I'm not keen on altering much of the overall look of Chasepoint. The town as it is remains pretty faithful to the original creation by the old team barring revisions such as Xae's dock area. This is why the Blackwood trees are still there. It's because the old team didn't seem to have a clue about how the map should be planned out and just added settlements wherever they saw fit without generating regions around them...bah!

Nevertheless, I feel quite sentimental towards it so I don't like the idea of it being uprooted. You also have to consider the rather nice fern effect amongst the cobbles which indicate the presence of Darkmoor and....although the town itself is quite a sudden transition between the Parchlands and Darkmoor, I feel it wouldn't look right to use much of the Parchlands stuff. I think it's the textures that help with the ferny cobbles...

So to my mind, the best option is probably to make more use of the Darkmoor assets. The cypress trees could be replaced by our own cypress trees. The problem there is that our own cypress trees stretch out rather wide and could clip into the town's buildings and defensive walls.

Darkmoor assets are dark though (perhaps unsurprisingly) and this contributes to a slightly gloomy, run-down, dirty character which I like. Therefore, too much sand and brighter-coloured trees would ruin the effect.

[Deeza]

OK. I'll leave it as it is and replace the trees with our own. Please could you post up the details of the remaining claims? I think that in light of recent decisions about faction development, we should probably replace the Mages' and Fighters' Guilds with something more suitable...

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Yes, the other claims will appear but I'm still a bit snowed under with other stuff and really need to get the archive sorted so that I can post up my new esps.

Personally, I'm in favour of sticking with the Mages Guild buildings. The FG buildings, however, are tricky since they concern the 'building-the-Guild-from-the-grass-roots' idea that we had and that involves scripting. The Mages are a solid bet because all gamers are likely to still require some magic training and spells, even if the more appropriate ones come by means of the Bhuru shamans....but you could always use the MG as a base for your operations whilst learning these.

I think I'd need a definite idea of an alternative for both before switching them but I do see what you mean. They're certainly more redundant here than they were in Cyrodiil.

[Deeza]

Hmm. Only thing is, I don't want the FG to have too many outposts all clustered together like this (it would be good to get the player travelling around BM a bit). Still, if you think it's best I'll defer to your judgement. As for the Mages, perhaps this could be more of a safe house or base of operations for expeditions into the marsh?

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Yes, I see your point about the FG. To date, we currently have five FG buildings either planned or created: Gideon, Stormhold, Soulrest, Rock Grove and Chasepoint. The latter two, you observed, are indeed too close. Whereas I would normally opt for Chasepoint as the ideal location of the Guild (due to the history), you've nonetheless done a perfectly good job of modding for Rock Grove.

What do you think of the idea of creating a player's home at Chasepoint? To my knowledge, we only have a potential player home at Gideon and that's it... :eek:

It's easy to create one though. I just decide to lock the place up and not add an NPC to it. However, it's clear that I've been missing that idea in my city planning as there's no player home at either Stormhold or Soulrest. I could add one in Upper Soulrest though (by replacing Rectus Parsemo's house or using the Silverman Hall) and maybe there's the option of living like a wretch down in the Stormhold Cistern. Yet an alternative to a Soulrest home would be one here in Chasepoint which is close enough....

Otherwise, the Chasepoint FG may become a family home or something....

[Deeza]

Sorry, only just saw this post.

I think in Stormhold, you can sleep rough for free in the Undercity. I think the best alternative for Soulrest would be one just outside it, as you say, in Chasepoint. Or possibly in one of those turtle shell huts down by the shore?