Exterior cell size in Oblivion vs. Morrowind

[Axen]

Originally posted by DarkAsmodeous
Whatever you do, make it manageable, we don't want another TES3 silgrad, finished just as no one cared any more, get thiis out within 1.5-2.5 years.

I'll say it again: making terrain and populating it with generic objects is WAY faster with the TES4 CS than the TES3 one. More than 4 times as efficient.

I'd say Silgrad Tower for TES4 will be a much more prominent project than the TES3 version (not saying the TES3 one wasn't), since... well, TES3 was already in Morrowind (or a part of it, rather), TES4 is not.

[Siegfried]

A few questions: Roughly how long would it take to generate terrain for a 15 quad heightmap using region paint functions, speedtree, ect? Could one person complete it in a reasonable ammount of time? And is it possible to create new region types and designate the types or rocks, foliage, ect found in them?

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by DarkAsmodeous
Whatever you do, make it manageable, we don't want another TES3 silgrad, finished just as no one cared any more, get thiis out within 1.5-2.5 years.

:eek:

*steps onto the soapbox*

There's no such thing as "finishing" our mod; Not the old one, nor this one. As a team we'll never reach a point where we can lean back and say that we've finished it and go do something else. The completeness of a mod like ours can only be measured in the amount of playable content and polish it has, because there's no defined goal at the end of the horizon to work towards. If the area currently in our scope gets finished we'll look at modding more quests, or start building a new area, and so on and so forth even if it would eventually mean modding the whole Morrowind Province.

There's no ultimate goal, but at the same time the sky is the limit. In my mind, that's always been the philosophy of our team. It sure was for the old team, seeing as the TES3 mod began as just one city. Gradually it was expanded and perfected, bugs ironed out, quests added, and we continued doing that right up until the point we lost most of our members during the summer of 2004.

I refuse to buy into the idea that a mod that saw thousands of man-hours spent on it by many dozen modders and was played by - literally! - tens of thousands of players was anything short of a massive success. I hope our Oblivion mod will turn out to be an even bigger success, but that doesn't mean that anything of what you see here would have existed had it not been for the blood, sweat and tears of current and departed members. In my view the legacy they left us serves as foundation and inspiration for our glorious future. And corny as it may sound, sometimes when I experience the old mod, I can't help but get the feeling that somehow, the ghosts of our past managed to imbue part of their soul into it. The kind that comes from attention to detail, an artistic eye, and polishing and perfecting it over time. All of that isn't nullified just because of a few bugs or unfinished interiors.

If I sound passionate, it's because I am. I'm sure you will be too after 2? years here.

No offense intended.

*steps down from the soapbox*

[masbeth]

but he has the point that the sooner the semi-finished product is released, the more likely it will be a greater success. Of course quality should not be compromised, so whatever the decision made should be based first on what will provide the best experience. Thats the most important. Then, it should be checked out to be reasonable. You could make the whole game a lifelike size, with thousands of square miles of terrain. It would be emersive, since it would be more like a real world, but it wouldnt be worth the years needed to do it. Thats why we want to balance the best gameplay size with some realisism in how long it will take to finsih.

[DarkAsmodeous]

I meant no harm with may statement, only offering a point of thought. Believe me, I am as loyal as they come, and you will NOT see me leave this mod team, come hell or high water(Im screwed if both come). And I agree with your every point, when I look at the old mod I get a feeling of it being a place of memories, makes it homey, you guys did a great job on it.

[Greybeard]

Well, I'd get on the soapbox with you m/self, but I've got modding to do. :yes:

[Siegfried]

I'm here to stay guys. The only thing that could keep me away is an unfortunate run-in with a woodchipper I had a close scathe today though, I got a virus in my OS or something, my computer would restart as soon as I loaded back up, I thought it was done for. Fortunately I have a D drive with a system recovery function on it.

[Razorwing]

DarkAsmodeous, Siegfried: Glad to hear that guys! Onward and upward :hugall:

[gravedigger84]

Anyone has an idea how many cells about is Reich Parkeep on size?
When you go in CS to heightmap-editor and put the grids on, one box is one cell right?

any idea about other bigger cities?
Im just wondering.. cause im making at least for starters a test city, which might be turning out something for mod if it succeeds.. its round shaped (walls) and if i remember correctly walled in aera is around 2,5x2,5 cells (i need to recheck, cause it mightve been 3x3 too).. or near, and as circle shape it looks a bit small size. Maybe enought if you intend to fill it with houses only but smal if you want to have "exterior" parts also. like parks.. and as i see it Oblivion really takes off better on large scale (wide roads and so on).

EDIT:
Razor, if that one heightmap above is RP and two high spots are two walled areas of city, it looks something like 4 + 6cells = 10cells

So i guess my walls for the test city (its one of the major ones in one continent) that include about 5-6cells is just too bit. But i thought so even myself. Even more since its round area.

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by gravedigger84
Anyone has an idea how many cells about is RP on size?
When you go in CS to heightmap-editor and put the grids on, one box is one cell right?

any idea about other bigger cities?
I'm just wondering.. cause I'm making at least for starters a test city, which might be turning out something for mod if it succeeds.. its round shaped (walls) and if I remember correctly walled in aera is around 2,5x2,5 cells.. or near, and as circle shape it looks a bit small size. Maybe enought if you intend to fill it with houses only but smal if you want to have "exterior" parts also. like parks.. and as I see it Oblivion really takes off better on large scale (wide roads and so on).

I merged your thread to the thread with the answer. =) It's posted further up, in this post.